For more than 15 years I have focused on the importance of education and treatment centers and what has to be done to improve services offered across our nation.

It is a pleasure to share lessons learned on the road with so many passionate people in our industry.

The first rule is that when you accept a position, or assume a new leadership role, you need to say what you are intending to do and then do what you said you would.

Staff and leaders in programs and schools who are not willing to take risks will not drive real change. Just 10 years ago programs and schools and children and families were different than they are today.  Today, programs and schools are failing and closing almost at the rate of one per month for the last 12 months.

The second rule is that when you don't measure, you don't care.

You have to be willing to measure the outcome of your program or school and let the world know what the results are - the ones you are proud of and the ones that show more work is needed.

The third rule is that all programs and schools, no matter what size, require long-term commitment.

It's the cumulative effect of incremental improvement that creates significant progress.

Another rule - the fourth - is to communicate what you are doing, especially to parents.

Your program or school can only be sustained when families know what you are doing is working.

The fifth rule is that success is never final and improvement is never finished.

You are either in ascendance or decline, so when you are not moving forward, you are losing ground as well as opportunities for students and families. To really transform education and the at-risk students that most of you are assisting here in America, you need to embrace the fundamental concept that each child needs a custom designed plan to maximize their individual capacity to learn.

And then you need to allow competition, freedom, and innovation.

The great economic, moral and social challenge of our time is providing high quality education and therapeutic assistance to every child that enters your doors. Their success defines your destiny.

These kids are the workforce of our future that will attract job creation and wealth of knowledge. A quality of education and therapeutic assistance will sustain the quality of life and the standard of living for these kids who also live in the world with your kids and your grand-kids.

I am fond of saying that no one can predict what the future marketplace will look like under a truly competitive system, except that it would be much different than what we know today.

The same is true for the parent choice movement in selecting assistance for their children. No one really knows what it will look like in 5 or 10 years, except that it will act and look different than it does now, just like now is different than 5, 10, 15 years ago.

Anyone who has been watching this industry already knows that the parent choice movement does not look like it did just 6 years ago.

Today this industry looks much different. I am still on the scene, many educational consultants are still on the scene, many programs are still on the scene, and many are not. Each of us fills a different and necessary niche in this industry. And there has been a steady increase in the number of programs that have closed.

However, here we are today.  What about tomorrow? What will our industry look like in 10 years time? Some people are worried that there will not be as many programs in 10 years because there are not enough emerging leaders with vision to fill the need.

Finding and getting talent is a concern with most people in this industry, especially those that are on the cutting edge.

Have you thought about the kids you are assisting and how many of them may be the new leaders for the future, something which is already happening through training programs created by some of those in this industry?

Having talented leaders and staff is a serious concern, however, it is not an insurmountable problem. There is a tremendous opportunity to reach out and build new partnerships with an entirely new sector of potential supporters. The technology wave that is continuing to run across our country will not make what you all do obsolete; it is what will continue to make you relevant. In the end, none of us knows what our industry will look like in 10 years.

Will we have new energy? New partners? Will there be more national groups? How many new programs will have been started?

How many more programs will have closed?  What will be the mix of all the different areas that are covered - addiction treatment, boarding schools, Christian programs, eating disorder programs, emotional growth schools, gifted children programs, adventure wilderness programs? How will programs be held accountable compared to today's standards?  Who really knows?

What I do know is that it will look different that it does today because if it doesn't, we will have been working against the principles and legacy of what this industry originally stood for.

I also know that in 10 years time that there will still be those fighting the fight for more reform. Some say this is a bad thing. Is it?

What excites you about the prospect of assisting a child today?

It took years for me to tear down the walls between myself and IECA consultants and yet, because of the economy, this wall is rebuilding again. That is because the price of freedom in any capacity, whether it is where you live, or how you do business, is eternal vigilance.