What is it about?
Our article evaluates a quality assurance program for behavior support plans in Virginia’s developmental disability waiver system. We present behavior plan scores on a tool we created (Behavior Support Plan Adherence Review Instrument) across different phases of our ongoing program. We discuss the role that funders and regulators can play in quality assurance, while offering lessons learned as we review strengths and limitations of our efforts.
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Why is it important?
Currently, there are many factors leading to an intense focus on the quality of behavior analysis services. This work, led by our team of behavior analysts at the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, is the largest such review that we are aware of in the peer-reviewed literature (over 1000 behavior plans). Anyone interested in quality assurance of behavioral programming might find useful takeaways. This article may be of particular interest to funders and regulators, clinicians providing behavioral services in home and community-based settings, and instructors of behavior analysis coursework.
Perspectives
I thank each of my co-authors at DBHDS, and Neil Deochand at Mississippi State University, for their collaboration and dedication on this endeavor. I hope our findings are informative for others with a passion for quality assurance in behavioral services.
Nathan Habel
Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: An evaluation of behavior plan quality in Virginia’s developmental disability waiver system., Behavior Analysis Research and Practice, October 2026, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/bar0000346.
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