Home and Community Based ABA Services

Home-based services are provided in the individual’s home typically with very heavy parent involvement. A primary goal for home-based services is to help teach parents how to be interventionists and how to work with their child throughout every day activities. One advantage for home-based services is that the behavior analyst and parents are better able to build independent daily living skills such as personal hygiene, chores, cooking, and cleaning.

In the home and community based program, ABA services are delivered to clients and their parents/caregivers within the client’s homes and surrounding communities. ABA services may also be provided in school settings as permitted by the client’s insurance carrier and as agreed upon by school administrative personnel. Behavior analysis services are provided by BCBAs, BCaBAs, and RBTs. Once a parent elects to begin services for their child, Coastal administrative staff will request authorization from the child’s insurance carrier. A lead behavior analyst then initiates the process by establishing a home visit, completing the Intake with the parent and obtaining signatures for releases of information. The analyst will then explain the scope of services to the parent and/or client, and begin the assessment process.

A Functional Behavior Assessment can take several weeks to months to complete and will require a good deal of effort from the parent/caregiver. A primary goal of the assessment process is to identify a client’s target problem behaviors as well as any communication or socialization deficits. Once the Functional Behavior Assessment is completed, the analyst will understand the functions of the behaviors (the reasons why they occur) and develop a Behavior Intervention Plan to address the client’s needs. Parents and caregivers are heavily coached and trained on the Plan’s procedures. Data is regularly collected to measure the effectiveness of the Plan as the client’s treatment progresses. Periodic data review meetings are scheduled with the client and/or caregiver, after which the analyst makes data-based treatment decisions.

The length of client sessions and the overall duration of treatment can vary depending on many factors. Each client’s treatment is individualized based on his/her needs. After the assessment and behavior intervention plan are completed, the lead analyst will provide the parents with a recommendation for the frequency and duration of services to be provided. The analyst will also delineate whether the services will be provided by a BCBA, BCaBA, or RBT.