A number of years ago some colleagues and I founded MassCAP (Massachusetts Coalition for ABA Providers) to advocate for the interests and standards of ABA providers in MA. The organization has since merged with BABAT’s Professional Practice Committee as their interests aligned, but one of the earlier resources/position paper we generated was a Statement on Parent Training as a Condition of Insurance Authorization. I often get requests for this as it’s been reported to be a valuable resource in responding to insurers who try to limit access to ABA based parent or caregiver involvement.
I want to emphasize this paper is not at all in opposition to caregiver involvement. Clearly there is value in parent or caregiver training and participation. It is in response to Parent Training as a Condition of Insurance Authorization.
The basis of the paper is as follows:
Parent training is an important and valuable practice in ABA and supporting your child with autism. “We wholeheartedly support parental involvement and parent training, [but] predicating service authorizations on a required level of involvement or requiring reports of parental involvement can be highly discriminatory and [can pose] unnecessary restrictions on access to care for the autism population.”
The full position paper is accessible here: https://partnersaba.com/product-and-service-packages/statement-on-parent-training-as-a-condition-of-insurance-authorization
Brandon Herscovitch, Ph.D., LABA, BCBA-D
Partners Behavioral Health supports ABA advocacy efforts and can help with your ABA business standards, compliance, and outcomes needs.
