The following comments are respectfully submitted by the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts (APBA; www.apbahome.net), a nonprofit international professional association whose mission is to support and advance the practice of applied behavior analysis (ABA). We appreciate the opportunity to comment in support of our constituents in VA and our Affiliate organization, the Virginia Association for Behavior Analysis.
1. The draft regs contain numerous references to Licensed Mental Health Professionals (LMHP) as qualified to develop, oversee, and implement applied behavior analysis (ABA) services. According to 12VAC35-105-20, LMHP “… means a physician, clinical psychologist, licensed professional counselor, licensed clinical social worker, licensed substance abuse treatment practitioner, licensed marriage and family therapist, certified psychiatric clinical nurse specialist, licensed behavior analyst, or licensed psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner.” Of those, only licensed behavior analysts (LBAs) have ABA in their legislated scope of practice; that is, none of the definitions of the scopes of practice in the VA licensure laws of the other professions include behavior analysis. Therefore, if any of those professionals were authorized to oversee or provide ABA services, it would likely violate the licensure laws and ethics codes of all of the professions listed in the definition of LMHP in 12VAC35-105-20. It would also be inconsistent with the following:
2. Required Activities
3. Service Limitations
4. Provider Qualifications, p. 37: See previous comments. Please revise the first sentence to read “ABA providers shall be licensed to practice behavior analysis by the Virginia Board of Medicine…”
5. Staff Requirements
6. Admission Criteria
7. Continued Stay Criteria: See comments under Admission Criteria above.
8. Discharge Criteria:
9. ABA Billing Guidance