Our residential team provides around-the-clock support in a structured, therapeutic environment designed to foster independence, skill development, and overall well-being. A team of professionals works collaboratively across residential, clinical, behavioral, and educational settings to provide consistent, individualized support throughout each resident’s day.

The residential team includes:

• Program Leadership — The Director, Program Managers, and Staff Development Coordinator provide program oversight, support quality and consistency, and ensure staff have the training and resources they need to meet residents’ individual needs.
• Floor Supervisors — Provide leadership and supervision within the residential setting and help ensure consistent implementation of each resident’s individualized supports.
• Autism Treatment Specialists — Work directly with residents throughout the day, helping them practice communication, social, behavioral, and daily living skills and supporting their progress toward greater independence.

Residential programming typically maintains a 2:1 staffing ratio, with two residents to one staff member. Because staff work as a team, additional support can be provided when a resident needs more individualized assistance, including 1:1 support during periods of difficulty or escalation.

Families are an important part of each resident’s support team. Residential staff and clinical professionals maintain regular communication with families and caregivers through email, phone, and other appropriate communication platforms, providing updates on progress, goals, and areas of focus. This ongoing partnership helps ensure that the people who know the resident best are informed and involved throughout their stay.

All Monarch Center for Autism staff receive training in Safety-Care®, along with training specific to the needs of the residents they support. Ongoing professional development helps staff use proactive, positive approaches to support communication, regulation, skill development, and safety

 Meet Our Team  

Every resident begins with a comprehensive assessment to better understand their strengths, needs, abilities, and areas for growth. Assessments are completed across both residential and educational settings and help the team develop an individualized plan that guides treatment, education, and skill development.

Each resident’s Individualized Treatment Plan (ITP) and Individualized Education Plan/Service Plan (IEP/SP) establish meaningful goals and identify the supports and strategies needed to achieve them. Plans are reviewed and adjusted as residents grow and their needs change, ensuring that programming remains individualized and focused on meaningful progress.

We help residents develop effective ways to communicate their needs, understand their environment, and manage emotions and sensory experiences. Individualized supports are built into daily routines to help residents feel more regulated, communicate more effectively, and participate more successfully at home, at school, and in the community.

• Sensory regulation supports and coping strategies help residents recognize and manage sensory and emotional needs.
• Visual supports are used to make instruction, organization, communication, and transitions more predictable and understandable.
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), including Speech Generating Devices (SGDs), provides individualized ways for residents to express themselves when spoken communication is difficult or not their primary mode of communication.

Individualized Communication Supports

Residents who use AAC or other communication technology can continue to use their communication devices throughout their residential experience. When appropriate, the resident’s Speech-Language Pathologist helps program, maintain, and adapt the device to support effective communication across school, residential, and community settings.

Spaces for Regulation

Residents have access to a variety of spaces designed to support regulation and provide opportunities to take a break when needed. These include quiet rooms, sensory rooms, gross motor rooms, outdoor playgrounds, and residents’ own bedrooms.

These spaces can be used as part of individualized strategies to help residents relax, regulate sensory input, and return to activities when they are ready.

The goal is to give every resident reliable ways to communicate, regulate, and engage with the world around them.

Residents have frequent opportunities to learn, practice, and generalize skills that support greater independence and meaningful participation in everyday life. Programming uses individualized, evidence-informed strategies to build on each resident’s strengths and help them experience success across settings.

• Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) strategies are incorporated to teach, practice, and reinforce new skills and support positive behavior.
• Social skills instruction helps residents strengthen communication, collaboration, friendship, perspective-taking, and conflict-resolution skills.
• Fine and gross motor activities support coordination, mobility, physical wellness, and participation in everyday activities.

The goal is not simply to learn a skill, but to help residents use what they learn in real-life situations with increasing confidence and independence.

Everyday routines provide meaningful opportunities for residents to build confidence and become more independent. Staff provide individualized support while encouraging residents to participate as actively as possible in their daily routines.

Everyday activities provide meaningful opportunities for residents to build confidence and become more independent. Staff break skills into manageable steps, provide individualized support, and create opportunities for residents to practice skills in real-life situations.

• Personal hygiene and self-care
• Laundry and household routines
• Cooking, meal preparation, and nutrition
• Money management and financial skills
• Leisure, recreation, and community participation
• First aid and personal safety

The goal is to help residents develop the practical skills they need to care for themselves, make responsible choices, and participate more independently in daily life.

Meals & Nutrition

Meals are prepared by Normandy Catering Services and are reviewed by Bellefaire’s Registered Dietitian. Snack pantries are stocked with healthy options.

Upon admission, each resident’s allergies and food preferences are documented. Monarch takes precautions to reduce exposure and cross-contamination for residents with food allergies.

When food selectivity is a concern, individualized treatment goals may include gradually expanding the variety and quantity of foods and beverages a resident can tolerate and enjoy. Staff use individualized strategies to support progress while respecting each resident’s needs.

Personal Belongings & Comfort Items

Residents may bring personal belongings and comfort items based on their individual needs and their ability to safely manage those items. Some belongings may be kept in the resident’s room, while others may be stored in a designated, secure storage area. Placement of belongings is determined based on resident needs, safety, and the security of personal property.

Weekends & Days Away From School

Days away from school provide additional opportunities for socialization, recreation, and skill building. Residents participate in activities such as cooking, group activities, and community outings while practicing goals from their individualized treatment plans.

Even on weekends and other non-school days, residents follow familiar morning and afternoon/evening routines. Visual, sensory, and behavioral supports are incorporated into schedules to promote consistency, predictability, and success.

Education is an integral part of the Monarch residential experience. Residents receive educational services through Monarch Residential Education, which is part of the same Monarch educational program and model used at Monarch Day School. This close connection allows educational and residential teams to reinforce goals and strategies throughout the day and across settings. The Monarch Day School, a chartered non-public school licensed by the Ohio Department of Education, is located adjacent to the residential programs,  which allows students to transition seamlessly between their residential and educational environments each day.

An Individualized School Experience

The school year runs for 195 days, from mid-August through mid-July, with a typical school day from 8:25 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. Students learn in small educational teams of approximately five to six students and receive a combination of one-on-one and small-group instruction.

Instruction is aligned with each student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or Service Plan (SP) and supported by Monarch’s Visual Language Immersion Treatment Model. Educational teams include intervention specialists, supervisory teachers, instructional assistants, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, behavior analysts and specialists, registered behavior technicians, and music and art therapists.

Students receive academic instruction, speech and occupational therapy, and other specialized supports designed to help them make meaningful progress toward their individual educational goals and graduation requirements.

Learning Beyond the Classroom

Education at Monarch extends beyond academics. Students have opportunities to practice skills in real-world settings through community-based experiences, prevocational training, and social and recreational activities that promote independence, confidence, and connection. For residents of MBA North and South, structured community activities are typically offered at least weekly, when clinically and developmentally appropriate. Residents must be able to maintain an appropriate level of safety in the community in order to participate in community outings. The goal is not simply to visit the community, but to help residents generalize the skills they are learning at Monarch across different people, places, and situations.

Activities are selected based on residents’ interests and goals and may include restaurants, parks, stores, recreational facilities, movies, swimming, and other community destinations.

Experiences may include:

• Community field trips and outings
• Prevocational work experiences
• Cooking clubs
• Dances, holiday celebrations, spirit weeks, and field day
• Art and music therapy
• Opportunities to develop daily living and social skills

Educational technology, including Speech Generating Devices (SGDs), is integrated into instruction when appropriate. Student progress is continually monitored through individualized data collection and assessment, allowing the educational team to understand each student’s progress and adjust instruction and supports as needed.

Monarch Residential Education also serves students from outside northeast Ohio through single-case agreements, allowing families from across the country to access the program when appropriate.

Learn more about Residential Education at the Monarch Day School

Residential Education School Calendar (2026-27)

Monarch residents benefit from concierge physical and dental healthcare provided in our state-of-the-art, on-campus health center, making routine and preventive care convenient and accessible throughout their stay. Through our partnerships with Zest Pediatrics and Infinite Smiles, residents receive coordinated medical and dental care as part of their comprehensive treatment experience. Upon admission, each resident receives a physical examination, and healthcare needs are monitored and addressed throughout treatment. 

Through our partnership with Zest Pediatrics, residents have access to on-campus concierge pediatric care, including:

• Annual well visits
• Sick visits
• Vaccinations
• Blood draws
• Other routine pediatric healthcare needs

Infinite Smiles Dentistry provides dental services on campus, including routine dental care and cleanings. A mobile anesthesia unit is also available when sedation is medically necessary.

Monarch Center for Autism nurses administer and monitor residents’ medications according to prescribed treatment plans and required documentation.

This coordinated approach helps reduce the logistical challenges families often face when managing their child’s medical, dental, psychiatric, and residential needs.

For residents with more intensive or specialized medical needs, Monarch facilitates access to leading healthcare providers through partnerships with Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals.

We want families to have easy access to the information they need throughout their child’s experience at Monarch Residential Services. Here you’ll find important resources, including the academic calendar, policies, other helpful information.

2026-27 Residential Education Academic Calendar

Anti-Harrassment, Anti-Intimdation, Anti-Bullying Policy

Time Out and Isolated Time Out Policy

Restraint Policy