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Therapy Policies

If you would like a copy of the full policy handout please contact the office

DEPS Therapy Policies

We believe that a cohesive and collaborative relationship with parents and any other professionals that are involved with the child’s life is vital to your child’s journey to reaching their maximum potential. While specific outcomes are not guaranteed, we believe that our family centered approach increases your child’s success. We recognize you and your family are the primary beneficiaries of our services provided to your child and want you to be involved in the treatment planning and service delivery process. A few ways that you and your family can support your child include, adherence to your child’s prescribed therapy schedule and treatment plan, and active participation in family treatment guidance sessions. 

Expectations of Therapy Sessions 

During every therapy session, goals from your child’s treatment plan will be targeted. We will always use a child lead approach and often play based. There may be more times where your BCBA will prescribe a slightly more structured approach for a specific goal or target, however, the details of that will be discussed during your family treatment guidance sessions. 

  • Your child will interact with different behavior technicians throughout the day. If you have preferences on technicians on your child’s case, please let the supervising BCBA know. We will do our best to accommodate. 
  • Please keep any items that are not necessary for therapy or requested by your child’s BCBA at home. We are not responsible for any damage to items brought from home. 
  • If your child has an Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) device, please make sure that it is charged and brought with your child to every therapy session. 

Family Treatment Guidance

You are an integral part of your child’s success; therefore, it is essential for you to be an active participant in your child’s therapy. Consistently participating in family treatment guidance sessions will assist your child in generalizing skills learned in the clinic to the home and community environment. Your BCBA will make a clinical recommendation for the number of hours and frequency of your sessions. Please remember that family treatment guidance sessions are required by DEPS and funding sources. Some funding sources have been known to discontinue services to do lack of compliance with all sessions that have been authorized. 

Coordination of Care 

Your child’s BCBA will coordinate care monthly with stakeholders and other professionals involved in your child’s treatment. This can be formally or informally what is deemed clinically necessary. A more formal meeting will occur as needed on a clinical basis. 

Bathroom Process 

In some cases, our clinicians will change diapers as needed. We have a bathroom designated for diaper changes that is supplied with a changing table and a place to house any materials needed. It is the parents’ responsibility to supply the clinic with any wipes, diapers, creams required, and we will notify you when supplies are running low. It is also possible to assist with toilet training. If applicable, this will be a discussion between you and your child’s BCBA. Your child’s BCBA will write a protocol and train each of the RBTs to carry it out. We will request additional materials as needed. 

Cohabitating and Releases of Information 

As a parent or legal guardian, you have a duty to maintain and protect the child in your care. Along with those duties, legal guardians also have the right to make decisions about the child’s health, welfare and general well-being. 

Married, cohabiting, parents of a child are considered joint guardians and have equal rights in relation to the child. This arrangement allows ease in care and decision-making abilities by both guardian parents. 

Likewise, non-cohabiting parents also have equal rights regarding their child, but their guardianship and decisions are separate. In these cases, specific authorizations must be on file with DEPS to ensure that the needs and requirements of both the child and the non-cohabiting guardians are met. 

DEPS requires written authorization for consent, treatment, and the release of personal health information for both non-cohabiting parents and/or guardians of any minor child. All authorizations must be on file before any treatment program starts. 

Medical Emergencies 

When a medical emergency arises, every effort will be made to contact parents, guardians, or an emergency contact. If parents or emergency contacts cannot be reached, the Clinical Director and/or Executive Director of ABA Services will decide the next step, which may consist of calling 911. In an extreme emergency, the employee may, at their discretion, call 911 before contacting the parent or guardian of the child. An authorized representative from the clinic will accompany the child and remain with him/her until their caregiver arrives. 

Sick Policy

To minimize the spread of illness, DEPS’s policy requires that a session is canceled, if the patient exhibits and of the following symptoms:  

  • Vomiting/Diarrhea 
  • Temperature greater than 101 degrees 
  • Respiratory problems – severe coughing, rapid breathing, croup, or whooping sound after  
    coughing 
  • Thick, discolored discharge from nose 
  • Rash or infection of the skin (e.g., ringworm, poison ivy) 
  • Evidence of lice, including nits 
  • Communicable diseases – conjunctivitis (pink eye), influenza, measles, chicken pox, strep  
    throat, etc. 

Patients must be free of infection and other symptoms, without the aid of medication, for 24 hours before resuming program sessions. Sessions may resume when the incubation and contagious period have passed, and the patient is well enough to resume normal activities. If the patient becomes ill during a session, the session will be immediately canceled. 

Attendance Policy 

Adherence to your child’s prescribed and agreed upon schedules is important for many reasons. Frequent absences can prohibit your child’s progress and adversely affect our ability to have staff available for your child. Therefore, we require 90% attendance across all scheduled sessions. We ask for at least 2 weeks’ notice of when your child will be absent. 

More than 3 no call/no shows may result in a loss of services. Please make sure to email scheduling@depsteam.com  for any call outs or cancellations. We will work with you to address any attendance challenges, however, if barriers cannot be successfully reconciled, we reserve the right to cancel service. 

Drop off and Pick up Policy for Clinics

It is the policy of DEPS for a parent or guardian to identify any other authorized people to pick up their child. Parents or legal guardians must fill out a form for anyone allowed to pick up their child. If proper written authorization is not on file with the clinic, your child will not be allowed to leave with an unauthorized person.