CARE was founded in 2002 by Dr. Schaefer, BCBA-D, LBA in Nevada to ensure public charter schools were following state and federal guidelines while meeting the individualized needs of students with disabilities participating in a wide range of program models. The CARE team expanded to include a group of professionals from a variety of disciplines who provided consultative services to school systems around the USA. CARE has successfully implemented multi-year initiatives with districts and state agencies. Dr. Schaefer also served as a consultant on a federal grant designed to provide professional development and coaching to school personnel working with students with Autism and related disorders.
Our highly sought after consultative services are uniquely tailored to meet the needs of the specific organization seeking services. From formalized assessment training, staff development on evidenced-based practices and implementation of principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA), to student- specific services and parent training, CARE BH is highly capable of facilitating improvements across a wide variety of areas in any school setting.
In 2003, CARE began providing in-home and community-based ABA services to individuals with ASD and their families throughout North America. These services were in high demand but sparsely available, leading numerous parents and professionals to continually request CARE to provide ABA services to more locations. In 2009, CARE opened ABA services in San Antonio, TX serving military families and their dependents with ASD. CARE continued to expand services in new states and locations until CARE was sold in February 2022.
CARE Behavioral Health (CARE BH) was formed in 2020 with the goal of continuing to provide premier school consultative services to districts across the USA. CARE BH provides staff development training, conducts program evaluations and works directly with school systems to provide ongoing coaching, technical assistance and support. CARE BH promotes the use of evidenced-based practices to meet the individualized needs of students with and without disabilities and works with districts to effectively implement inclusive practices to ensure positive student outcomes.
Dr. Schaefer founded CARE in 2002 in Nevada and has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst- Doctoral (BCBA-D) level since 2003. She has supervised numerous professionals who have fulfilled the requirements of the BACB and have become BCBAs. Dr. Schaefer received a doctoral degree in special education from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) in 1999; a master's degree in special education from California State University at Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) in 1991 and finished the administrative program at CSUDH in1993. She completed coursework in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) at the University of North Texas in 2001 and at the State University of Rutgers in New Jersey in 1999 and participated in a summer internship at the Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center. She also holds two undergraduate degrees from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada including a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and a Bachelor of Education degree.
Dr. Schaefer has worked as a preschool teacher as well as a special education teacher on several elementary campuses and in an inclusive preschool program at UNLV. She was also a teacher trainer at one of four model demonstration sites in Nevada designed to utilize principles of ABA with young children from 1999-2001. Dr. Schaefer has also worked in other district level positions including Preschool- , Federal Programs-, Special Education- Coordinator, Autism Program Specialist, and as an Assistant Principal.
Dr. Schaefer has worked with school districts to develop transition planning for secondary students with disabilities with the goal of improving their overall quality of life and level of independence. She has provided training to groups on various models of person-centered planning such as the McGill Action Planning System (MAPS) and the Planning Alternatives Tomorrow with Hope (PATH). CARE has successfully implemented multi-year initiatives with districts and state agencies. Dr. Schaefer has worked as a consultant on a multi-year federal grant designed to provide professional development in Autism. She has also written and worked on several grants and projects designed to support innovative services for students with ASD. Dr. Schaefer and her team of highly qualified professionals continue to provide consultative services to districts and state agencies throughout the US.