Respond to DDS online survey regarding ABA service standards. Deadline 2/15.

We want to thank those of you who helped respond so quickly by alerting families to the budget hearing held in Sacramento on Thursday, February 10, 2011. Your call to action was heard. Thousands turned out for the hearing. Many families spoke about how intensive early ABA intervention and other ABA services have made a real difference in the lives of their children and families. (You can see the hearing on calchannel.com). Many others wrote compelling letters to State officials, including Senate and Assembly Representatives, describing how much they value ABA treatment delivered by qualified professionals.

Here is the next step for CalABA members, the families we serve, and our community partners:

As part of their plan for implementing budget reductions for this year, the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) is developing statewide service standards. These standards address details of who should get what treatment, how, when, and where. They are seeking input through a variety of means, including an online survey that will close on Tuesday, February 15, 2011.

We think it is important that CalABA members comment on this process and offer guidelines based on expert opinion and the research that supports our practice. Thus, you are encouraged to respond to this survey. It can be found at www.dds.ca.gov/survey. You may also forward this information to family members who receive our services and who may also want to participate in this survey. But there is only a limited time frame available for responding.

The survey asks 7 questions about 8 different types of services. Because behavior analysts are primarily involved in only 2 of them, your commentary on Early Start and Behavior Intervention areas is probably the most important. You may want to skip the other sections.

Unrelated to these DDS actions related to budget cuts, CalABA convened a task force several months ago to begin developing service delivery standards for ABA treatment. Members of CalABA's Board of Directors, along with other CalABA members and allied professionals with expertise in these areas, have been working on writing these standards. While the final version of this report has not yet been released, the task force has prepared some guidelines you may want to reference in responding to the DDS survey. We hope that these guidelines are helpful. Referencing them in your online surveys is, of course, optional. Please contact us with any comments or questions.