1.       Individualized Programming/Development

Each child is unique and therefore we believe it is our job to design a behavior intervention program that is individualized to your child’s specific needs. Our BCBA’s and BCaBA’s continually assess each child’s needs and use ABA Therapy Solutions' extensive researched-based curriculum to create a specialized program for each child. Our highly skilled staff members are trained in a wide range of ABA methods so that they have many options to find the intervention that works best to meet your child’s specific needs.

2.       Functional Behavioral Assessment

A functional behavioral assessment (or FBA) is a process that identifies a specific or target behavior that interferes with a student’s education. The assessment attempts to designate the particular behavior, identify the factors that support the behavior, and determine the purpose of the behavior. The process leads to an intervention plan and steps that one can test to improve the student’s situation. The functional behavioral assessment informs a teaching plan External link that can develop a more acceptable alternative behavior for the student that will not interfere with the student’s education. Before starting treatment services for my child, several assessment procedures will be used. These may include:

a.  An intake interview during which I will be asked about my child’s current and past levels of language, motor skills, play skills, self-help skills, interest in peers, and behavioral concerns,
b.  Standardized psychological or educational assessments to measure my child’s cognitive functioning, level of adaptive functioning in daily life, and level of receptive and expressive language,
c.  Behavioral and curriculum-based assessments,
d.  Behavioral observation of my child during free-play and during interactions with others. 
e.  Reports from school or past medical or psychological assessments will also be requested if appropriate.
f.  I understand that MG Home Care Services may request a medical evaluation if a behavior appears to be caused by an underlying medical issue or to rule any underlying medical issues.
g.  I authorize MG Home Care Services to carry out behavioral assessments to help direct the development of treatment services for my child. I understand that assessments may involve the participation of members of my family. I understand that the results of all assessments are available to me at any time.

3.       Behavior Intervention Plans

Behavior Intervention Plans are developed from a Functional Behavior Assessment. Behavior Intervention Plans increase the acquisition and use of new alternative skills, decrease the problem behavior and facilitate general improvements in the quality of life of the individual, his or her family, and members of the support team.

4.       Functional Communication Training

FCT is used to teach and establish replacement behaviors for inappropriate or harmful behaviors such as aggression, escape/elopement, non-compliance, etc. When a child is regularly engaging in disruptive, challenging behaviors the child is having difficulty communicating or meeting their wants and needs. Even for a verbal child, but particularly for a non-verbal child, the behavior is a way of communicating. It is our role to develop a comprehensive ABA program to replace challenging behaviors with more effective and efficient positive/functional behaviors in order to get their needs and wants to be met in a more socially acceptable manner.

5.       Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Therapy

During these sessions, therapists work directly with the client, and occasionally with his or her parents, caregivers, and/or teachers as well. ABA services may be conducted in the clinic, home, school, and/or community. Sessions generally last for several hours and take place multiple times per week. The frequency and intensity of sessions, as well as service location, will be based on client need as well as scheduling logistics and insurance authorization. All ABA clients are assigned a ‘treatment team’ that consists of a combination of Registered Behavior Technicians (RBT), Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA), and/or Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts (BCaBA); however, for most ABA cases, a majority of the direct therapy will be provided by an RBT with oversight and supervision conducted by the BCBA. Please note, ABA therapy is typically only covered by insurance for individuals that have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), and not all plans cover ABA; however, please contact your insurance company to find out more details if you are interested in this service.

6.       Parent Guidelines

Your cooperation on the following is greatly appreciated to assist us in working with your child effectively and efficiently:

a.  A parent or responsible adult must be in the home during therapy sessions.
b.  Your child should be dressed and fed prior to the therapist's arrival unless these skills are being addressed in the program.
c.  If sessions are in the home, the area being used for therapy must be a comfortable temperature, well-lit, and relatively free of distractions. It is important that we are able to conduct the session in a professional manner with materials ready and limited access to competing reinforcers (i.e. toys that are not used during the therapy session).
d.  The therapist must wait 30 minutes if the child is not there at the therapy time and then is permitted to leave.
e.  A therapist cannot change appointment times without an agreement with the family.
f.  If your family is planning an extended vacation (more than 2 weeks), please inform the therapist and supervisor. We will continue to reserve the spot for your child but cannot guarantee that your child will work with the same therapist.
g.  In case of an accident or unusual incident, the therapist should complete an incident form, and the family and Chief Clinical Officer will be informed within 1 working day. 
h.  Please notify the therapist, as much in advance as possible, at least the night, before the scheduled session if you know that your child (or other children in your home) will not be able to participate in the program the next day due to illness. Sickness includes, but not limited to the following:

•Temperature above 100
•Communicable Disease
•Hand/Foot/Mouth
•Vomiting
•Measles, Mumps, Chicken Pox
•Diarrhea
•Pin Worm
•Strep Throat
•Lice
•Rash
•Pink Eye

Parents are asked to use the same guidelines used in a school – if a child (or sibling) is too sick to attend school, he or she is too sick to participate in his/her therapy session.
Therapy will resume as soon as the child’s doctor clears him/her of being contagious or the remedy is completed. If a therapist arrives at the home and the child is sick, the therapist will not be able to work with your child.

a.  The therapist is NOT allowed to take a child in their automobile.
b.  Parents and consultants/therapists should be respectful and courteous to each other. Open communication between parents and consultants/therapists is essential to the establishment of a successful program for the child. If there are any problems or concerns, please contact the Chief Clinical Officer immediately.
c.  Please understand that all information shared is HIPPA protected, it is essential that every MG Home Care Services employee respects and maintains each client’s right to confidentiality regarding his or her treatment and all personal information. All HIPPA laws apply. Please do not ask about another client’s program or treatment, as this information will not be discussed.

7.       Family Engagement

MG Home Care Services strives for excellence in its ABA program and an integral component to achieve that goal is family involvement. MG Home Care Services requires caregivers to carry over the therapy being implemented and record data for specific programs as outlined in the client treatment plan. If the Client/Family refuses involvement in the treatment plan, as a last resort service may be suspended or terminated based on the severity of the lack of involvement. MG Home Care Services wants to help all clients we interact with but without the client/family involvement our treatment plans will not be as effective as possible.

8.       Financial Agreement

New Patients approved for ABA therapy services are responsible for any and all charges not paid for by healthcare insurance payers (private or public). By signing this service agreement, you are acknowledging that you understand this condition of service and commit to promptly paying Behavior Matters for the services we provide to you, our valued customer. Following the receipt of your patient statement, please contact us to make payment arrangements. For self-pay clients, Invoices are emailed at the end of each week and are due upon receipt for continued services. We accept cash, personal checks, and money orders. If payment is not made, MG Home Care Services may suspend services until payment is made.
Each healthcare insurance payer has different guidelines for allowing coverage of ABA therapy. It is helpful if you let us know your healthcare payer when starting service so that we may find out if prior authorizations are needed. If your healthcare insurance payer is an insurance that we do not contract with, you are required to make self-pay arrangements for the usual and customary pricing of our services (see Self-Pay Fee Schedule). For non-contracted insurance payers and private pay clients, initial assessment fees to be collected at time of assessment, assessments last 4-10 hours based on complexity, to include 2 hours of report writing (please call for rates), and regular scheduled ABA sessions, payment is due at time of service.

Note to Separated or Divorced Parents: MG Home Care Services will not keep separate accounts to accommodate separated or divorced parents who share financial responsibility.

9.       Scheduling and Sessions

Each client will have a Board Certified Behavior Analyst or Board Certified assistant Behavior Analyst as he lead supervisor for their treatment. A Behavior Technician will provide direct 1:1 therapy in the designated setting. Each Behavior Technician has at a minimum a Bachelor’s degree and experience providing services to children with Autism or related diagnosis. A parent/legal guardian or adult over the age of 18 is required to be present and available in the home throughout the therapy session(s). Except in cases of emergency, 24 hours’ notice is required for all canceled appointments. We request that families give us at least two weeks’ notice on significant changes in their plans for in-home ABA sessions scheduling to facilitate consistency in service delivery.

10.   Services and Discharge

MG Home Care Services offers a full-service ABA program. To determine the program needed for a client we initially complete an assessment to determine whether a client would benefit from our services. After it has been determined that our services are needed, a BCBA is appointed as the team leader and develops a treatment plan based on the findings of the assessment.
The treatment plan includes general and specific goals with time frames for completion. The treatment plan also includes a scheduled reassessment generally six months from the time the treatment plan is developed. The treatment plan is then implemented by the BCBA who supervises Behavior Technicians on proper implantation of the treatment plan. As needed, the program is adjusted by a BCBA to accommodate the client’s progress. If the treatment plan is over challenging the plan will be modified with lower intensity goals. As the client advances through the program more challenging goals can be added to the plan. If after adjusting the treatment plan and following the updated plan we may determine our services is not the proper treatment for the client. If such a determination is made, we will follow our discharge and referral protocol.
Once the client has attained the level of development similar to a typical developing child, the client will be put on a maintenance program until the BCBA determines services will no longer benefit the client. Being a sudden stop in services can be detrimental to the skills acquired, the discharge from services is done over a long period of time to achieve a smooth transition.
MG Home Care Services requires a two-week notification for clients that are discontinuing services, if possible. When services are to be terminated, the client or primary caregiver shall be notified of the date of termination and reason for termination. For more information please refer to MG Home Care’s Behavior Analysis Client Handbook.

11.   Appointments

Except for rare emergencies, we will see you (or your child) at the time scheduled. We understand that circumstances (such as an illness or family emergency) may arise which necessitates the occasional cancellation of appointments. In these cases, in order to avoid any misunderstanding, we ask that you speak to our staff personally and give as much notice as possible to cancel or reschedule.

12.   Service Agreement and Consent Form

This document contains important information about our professional services and business policies. It also contains summary information about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a federal law that provides new privacy protections and new client rights with regard to the use and disclosure of your Protected Health Information (PHI) used for the purpose of treatment, payment, and health care operation. HIPAA requires that we provide you with a Notice of Privacy Practices (the Notice) for use and disclosure of PHI for treatment, payment, and health care operations. The Notice is in Section 16 of the MG Home Care’s Behavior Analysis Client Handbook, and it explains HIPAA and its application to your personal health information in greater detail. The law requires we obtain your signature acknowledging we have provided you with this information. Although these documents are long and sometimes complex, it is very important you read them carefully and you ask questions regarding the procedures. When signing this document, it will also represent an agreement between our clients/caregivers and MG Home Care Services. You may revoke this agreement in writing at any time. That revocation will be binding unless we have taken action in reliance on it; if there are obligations imposed by your health insurer to process or substantiate claims made under your policy; or if you have not satisfied any financial obligations. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to bring them to our attention.