HJBR Nov/Dec 2022

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  NOV / DEC 2022 35 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalBR.com in the fun with balloons, face-painting, and sno- cones at various back-to-school events. The plan’s trained health coaches were also on-site at each event to provide personalized assistance and support to members and to promote the value of preventive care for long-term wellness to all attendees. Events were sponsored by a range of commu- nity volunteers at a host of locations, including health centers, churches, community centers, and parks. “Today, we gave out over 200 gift cards towards the purchase of shoes for our wonderful school age kids,” said Zachary Councilman Lael Mont- gomery, who spoke at the Kickz 4 Kidz B2S event in Zachary. “Thanks to all our supporters, spon- sors, volunteers, and the numerous people who donate every year. Every kid in the park received a gift card, and that means a lot to me!” Many of the supported events, spanning 13 cities across Louisiana, also provided families with access to important supplemental services such as free haircuts, school uniforms, and health screenings for both adults and children. “Even without the added stress of our current economy, a new school year is often a financial hardship on Louisiana families,” said Yolanda Wilson, Louisiana Healthcare Connections vice president of quality improvement. “We are for- tunate to have community partners across the state who share our commitment to ensuring that Louisiana’s children have access to the tools and resources they need to have a healthy, success- ful school year.” FranU Launches University- Based Registered Behavior Technician Program Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Univer- sity’s Registered Behavior Technician Program launched October 2022 and is free for 20 selected students. The eight-week registered behavior technician (RBT) program will operate with the support of the Wilson Foundation. The primary goal of the program is to train students for a career in applied behavior analy- sis (ABA), which is known for its application as a therapy for children with autism spectrum disor- der (ASD). Currently, ABA is the only empirically supported treatment for this population and the prevalence of children who receive a diagnosis of ASD has been on the rise for over a decade. The CDC estimates that one in 44 children receive a diagnosis of ASD by the time they are eight. Together, these factors create a huge need for highly skilled technicians to work in this field. The field offers a variety of career options. As an RBT, an individual’s job duties would include providing one-on-one therapy. Board-certified assistant behavior analysts (BCaBA) are individ- uals who provide supervision of therapeutic ser- vices, assessments, and monitor and report client progress. Individuals credentialed as board-certi- fied behavior analysts (BCBA) oversee all aspects of services delivery. FranU offers the required training for individuals wishing to pursue careers in ABA as RBTs, BCaBAs, and will begin accept- ing application for its new BCBA program soon. Most RBT training programs in Louisiana are outsourced to online programs outside of the state. These programs may be difficult to com- plete and do not provide opportunities for train- ees to receive hands-on learning experiences that may enhance their preparedness to enter the field. To address these issues, FranU will offer an enhanced RBT program. The program will include an online component to accommo- date adult learners as well as a brief but immer- sive practical component that will take place at the Emerge Center. During their practical expe- rience, students will receive direct supervision as they learn to apply behavioral services to children with ASD. Program completers will be afforded immediate employment opportunities through sponsorships with local ASD-focused clinics. Tracy Lepper, who is a board-certified behavior analyst-doctoral, will lead this project. She has been approved by the Association for Behavior Analysis International as an instructor and has taught behavior-analytic courses for over 10 years. “A strong candidate will be an individual who has a passion to serve their community, work in a clini- cal setting, and help individuals with disabilities.” She continued, “As an RBT, you not only get to witness some of the awesome changes that can occur during therapy for a client, such as hearing a client say their first word, respond to their name for the first time, make a new friend, or learn skills that allow them to be safe and as independent as possible, but you also get to be an active partic- ipant on the team that helps make those things happen.” The RBT course will be offered each semester in October, January, and May. Admission require- ments include completed application, payment of application fee, and graduation from high school with a minimum GPA of 2.0 or completion of the GED exam with a minimum score of 400. Interested candidates should apply for the course by completing the undergraduate appli- cation found at franu.edu/applications. They can also go to the website franu.edu/rbt or email tracy.lepper@franu.edu for more information. Baton Rouge General Expands Services with Louisiana Sleep Foundation The Louisiana Sleep Foundation, a sleep med- icine, diagnostic, and treatment center, is now part of Baton Rouge General. The center special- izes in diagnosing and treating complex medical sleep disorders. Leading Baton Rouge General Louisiana Sleep Foundation as medical director is J. Kyle Schwab, MD, DABSM. Schwab completed medical school at Louisiana State University in Shreveport with a combined internal medicine and pediatric resi- dency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He became board-certified in the specialty of sleep medicine in 2005 and is one of the few physicians in Louisiana who is a diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine. W. Hunter Hardin, BSN, MSN, FNP, serves as clinical director of the treatment center. Hardin completed undergraduate studies and a Bach- elor of Science in nursing at Louisiana State Uni- versity and the University of South Carolina. He then completed a master’s in nursing at the Uni- versity of Louisiana Lafayette and received an advanced practice licensure to become a family nurse practitioner. Joining Schwab and Hardin are Lindsay B. Mul- lins, PhD, APRN, and Dedra Newton, FNP. Mullins completed a Bachelor of Science in nursing from LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. She then received a master’s in nursing at George- town University in Washington, D.C., and received an advanced practice licensure to become a fam- ily nurse practitioner. Mullins also completed a