a brief history of help

Human Empowerment and Leadership Principles -HELP, A Safety Management Continuum, is a product and service of Crisis Assessment & Prevention Systems-CAPS. Checo Perryman, founder of CAPS and director/designer of HELP, started CAPS in May of 1996.  Mr. Perryman was a trainer in CPI and PMAB, with more than fifteen years of direct care experience utilizing CPI, PMAB, Handle With Care and PIT at various times throughout his tenure as a direct care provider.  In the spring of 2001, Mr. Perryman started the first manual that would be used to provide structure, and directions for the safest, most effective use of the HELP model. Suggestions from literally thousands of professionals working with aggressive and/or self-abusive individuals contributed to the development of Human Empowerment and Leadership Principles.

CAPS developed HELP into a program that would provide some of the intervention strategies contained in many other programs, but would update and refine some of the techniques to provide safer, more effective interventions.  HELP expands the idea of crisis intervention by specifically focusing on maintaining a physically and emotionally safe environment. HELP provides ways to break down some of the barriers to preventing and managing physical aggression.  Checo Perryman along with the contributions of professionals in healthcare, education and human services redesigned the concept of "crisis intervention" to create a program that would focus solely on managing a safe environment. Human Empowerment and Leadership Principles, A Safety Management Continuum, is that program.