Association for Behavior Analysis International

The Behavior Analyst Certification Board ® and the Council of Autism Service Providers™ provide discharge and documentation guidelines for Applied Behavior Analytic services, however, guidance regarding the discharge planning process (e.g., discharge fade plans, discussions with the family, evaluating responsiveness to treatment) is often gained through experience which can vary across clinicians. Therefore, continual training and support to help behavior analysts with the medical necessity of services and the discharge process are often necessary. This panel will outline steps that can be taken to close the gap between discharge criterion recommendations and the training and support necessary to execute the discharge process. The use of a decision-making model, training and planning resources, as well as an individualized peer-review process, will be discussed. The tools and trained discussed include taking into consideration the client's individual needs, the clinician’s experience (Kornack et al., 2017), the family’s perspective (Beier, 2018), and managed care requirements and recommendations (Papatola & Lustig, 2016).

Audience members should have an active BCBA certification, be currently supervising Applied Behavior Analytic services, and knowledge of the updated BACB 2020 ethics code and medical necessity criteria.