Academy for Precision Learning reviews

This review makes some serious claims against APL's program and clinical services. We have reviewed the content of the claims and feel the need to respond with factual statements. The reviewer wrote that BCBA's were, "risking their clinical licensure if they continue employment here." Our agency license is in good standing. We recently completed our triannual/regularly scheduled audit with the DOH and passed with flying colors. None of our clinical staff members have ever lost their license or had any disciplinary action taken against their license during their employment with us. Additionally, the reviewer stated that, "students are often left without trained staff familiar with their case, or adequate supervision." All new staff complete a state-mandated training sequence as well as a minimum of 40 hours of ABA-specific coursework before being placed on the floor with clients. New staff who are still working towards their state license are under direct supervision (within sight and sound) of a licensed behavior analyst at all times. In the 2021 school year, new learning sequences are being created for on going professional development in the clinical department. While we cannot delve into specific clients' programming without compromising patient privacy, an important part of APL's philosophy is teaching self-advocacy skills. We believe our students have the right to ask for help or a break when they are feeling overwhelmed or uncomfortable. We minimize our use of aversive procedures such as escape extinction in favor of functional communication training and differential reinforcement. This does mean that instead of engaging in power struggles to force students to participate in instruction, our preference is to coach and reinforce the use of functional self-advocacy statements wherever it is clinically appropriate to do so. Like many other agencies in our area, we have been forced to explore the implementation of telehealth-based therapy in order to continue to meet the academic and clinical needs of our students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our approach was developed in accordance with CASP guidelines, funder requirements, and best practice recommendations from our state and national governing agencies. In addition to completing state-mandated telemedicine training, all of our clinical leadership team members (and many of our BCBAs/LBAs) have participated in voluntary and continued professional development to ensure that our service delivery within the telehealth model is as effective as possible. That being said, we recognize the limits of this format and the challenges it poses for many of our learners. For this reason, we have put exhaustive infection control measures in place that have allowed us to safely serve our most impacted students on-campus/face-to-face since April 2020, and have been gradually increasing the percentage of clients served on campus as local and state guidance allows. About 40% of our client population is currently receiving on-site services, and we hope to be able to bring all students back on-site beginning in summer 2020 as DOH guidance allows. We are very proud of our team's approach to prioritizing student and staff safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, and are happy to report that we have experienced absolutely no spread of infection on the APL campus. Our clinic and school is located in a beautiful historic community center within the vibrant University District community. This location affords our program with a number of unique opportunities, including partnerships with other nonprofit educational programs and access to community resources like the public library, YMCA, public transit, and job site placements for our high school students. We utilize these resources to provide our students with meaningful embedded learning opportunities that support our mission of inclusion and community engagement, and will be opening a second U District campus in Summer 2021 to further these goals. Of course, accessing any bustling metropolitan area necessitates safety considerations, so we maintain a high staff-to-student ratio whenever our clients are learning in a community setting, and ensure that students with behaviors that may pose a risk to themselves or others are accompanied by staff certified in Safety Care crisis prevention and management. This response was thoughtfully curated by Kelly Meyer, Executive Director. If anyone has any questions about the policies and procedures in place at APL, they are encouraged to reach out to Kelly's office at info@aplschool.org.