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Health & Safety

COVID-19 Policy

Providing ABA services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has presented many challenges to delivering consistent in-home therapy for families.

 

As ABAS transitions into a COVID informed delivery model, we are providing this Health and Safety Caregiver Policy to ensure that there is clarity on the policies and procedures related to in-home ABA care as it relates to the various situations that may be presented during your child’s treatment plan

 

Every case and situation is different and needs to be treated with individualized attention and compassion towards our clients, employees, their families, and the community we serve.


Integrity

ABAS is bound by legal and ethical requirements to our certifying agencies and the governing regions that we operate in. ABAS is obligated to follow all state and federal legal requirements, including those related to social distancing and service provision.

It is the Company’s utmost responsibility to always operate in the best interest of our clients.

Health and Safety

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our care teams to ensure that all parties involved are safe, remain healthy, and are not exposed to unnecessary risk. ABAS will continue to operate in a responsible way that allows our clients and our employees to be safe during ABA therapy sessions.

The heath and safety of our clients, their families, and our employees is of ABAS’s utmost concern.

Attendance

Although masks and social distancing, widely available vaccines, and Telehealth options have helped to curb the pandemic’s influence on our daily ABAS therapy workflow, COVID-19 will continue to affect cases and disrupt attendance in unplanned ways for the foreseeable future.

With good communication and strong contingency plans we can work together to minimize the effects of these disruptions.

Communication

COVID-19 prescreening is required for in-home services by the care team and ABAS will continue to use the Face-to-Face Screening Flowchart to determine if daily services can continue as planned. Caregivers should continue to report any positive household COVID-19 diagnosis to the supervising BCBA. ABAS employees also required to report any positive COVID-19 diagnosis. Timely communication of any disruption will minimize the delay in scheduling for the return to services.

The success of the ABA treatment plan scheduling depends on the ability of the care team to communicate effectively.

Health and Safety Caregiver Policy

Latest Update: April 11, 2022

ABAS takes health and safety of our clients extremely seriously. We want to continue offering ABA therapy for your child without interruption. We ask that you adhere to the established rules below. This document reflects our current policies as of the above date, however our health and safety guidelines are periodically updated. You can find the most current policy recommendations by visiting the Health and Safety page of our website http://abaswma.org.

Personal Health
  • Daily COVID-19 Health Screening: Caregivers should screen daily for new coronavirus symptoms and/or exposure and report a screening failure prior to scheduled services.
  • ABAS follows CDC guidance, or state requirements, whichever is stricter, regarding quarantine/isolation after exposure to a COVID positive individual, or a positive COVID test. Please follow our face-to-face screening flow chart in order to determine next steps following a COVID exposure or positive test.
  • Mask Use:
    • ABAS requires that clinicians and families follow local requirements regarding the use of masks during sessions.
    • Your clinicians may choose to continue wearing a mask, even if you are in an area that no longer requires their use. Similarly, you may request that ABAS employees working in your home continue to wear masks, regardless of the mask requirements in your area.
    • Both employees and clients must wear a well fitting mask for 10 days following a COVID exposure or positive COVID test.
  • Ventilation: Whenever possible, we encourage windows to be open to promote healthy ventilation and circulation of fresh air, to reduce the likelihood of transmission of airborne illnesses.
  • School and Other Group Session Locations: ABAS will permit sessions to be held in school and other childcare group settings, in keeping with local jurisdiction health and safety requirements.
  • Other Community Session Locations: Sessions may be held at community locations (e.g., museums, stores) provided a BCBA approves the location as clinically appropriate.

Staff Safeguards
  • ABAS staff are not permitted to report to work if they are feeling unwell or have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and not yet cleared to return to work
  • ABAS clinicians are strongly encouraged to be vaccinated; Across all locations, clients are able to request vaccinated-only team members.
  • Clinicians may choose to sanitize the work area prior to beginning their session with cleaning materials they bring with them.
  • During sessions, staff are asked to avoid unnecessary physical contact with clients (e.g., hugs, sitting in lap).
  • If you ever feel that a staff member is behaving in a way that jeopardizes the health and safety of your family, please let your supervising BCBA know immediately.
Caregiver Daily Workflow
Daily COVID-19 screening
COVID-19 Updates and Information

What you need to know about COVID-19 in Massachusetts

COVID-19 Info