RES-NEWSLETTER-PARENTS-RBT — BACB Newsletter: Parents Serving as RBTs for Their Children (Jul 2023)
What does RES-NEWSLETTER-PARENTS-RBT say?
The BACB addressed the ethical considerations of parents serving as RBTs for their own children. Key guidance: (1) There is no blanket prohibition against parents becoming RBTs, but ethical complexities must be managed. (2) When a parent is the RBT for their own child, inherent multiple relationships exist (parent and service provider). (3) The supervising BCBA must carefully manage this arrangement to ensure: objective assessment and data collection, appropriate professional boundaries during sessions, clear distinction between parent time and therapy time. (4) Potential concerns include: bias in data collection and reporting, difficulty maintaining professional objectivity, conflicts between parenting decisions and treatment protocols. (5) Organizations employing parent-RBTs should have policies addressing these concerns. (6) The supervising BCBA should increase direct observation frequency to ensure treatment integrity.
Official source: read the full text in the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts (2022) (official document).