River Street Outreach Program

Services Offered

The River Street Outreach Program provides high quality, research-based services for families and professionals.

Assessment of Program Quality Indicators

RSS Outreach Program consultants use the Assessment of Program Quality Indicators (APQI) to assist districts in reviewing and improving their services to students on the Autism Spectrum. Our staff can help fill in the gaps in the district’s current level of services.

Assessment of Individual Student Needs

RSS Outreach Program staff provide a comprehensive assessment of student needs and generate valuable placement information. Assessments may include the following: ecological assessments of current or future placements, functional behavior assessments, Autism Screening Instrument for Educational Placement (ASIEP), Assessment of Basic Language and Learner Skills- Revised (ABLLS-R), Verbal Behavior Milestones and Placement Program (VB-MAPP), Social Skills Rating Scales, Essentials for Living.

Support to Intensive ABA Classrooms

Located within community schools, our staff creates and provides behavioral and curricular oversight to classrooms for intensive intervention for young children who need intensive applied behavior analysis (ABA). These classrooms are ABA programs that employ discrete trial intervention for the initial acquisition of programs, with programming for generalization in group activities with other children. The classrooms provide opportunities for inclusion and peer integration. In these contexts, the children receive shadow support to transfer control to the classroom teachers.

Special Education Lead Resource Teacher Substitutes in ABA classrooms

When available, Outreach Special Education Lead Resource Teachers who are also BCBA/ BCaBAs can provide substitute services to cover extended leaves of school staff. Efforts are made to overlap and coordinate services to provide smooth transitions for student programming.

Consultation in Schools and Classrooms

In this model, RSS Outreach Program staff provide consultation to school staff to enable a child to stay in their home school. Consultation may include assessment of the learning environment via structured observation, functional behavior assessment, assistance in creating the behavior support plan, development of an individualized program, staff training, inclusion support, assistance in developing data systems to track student progress, and ongoing support in implementation. In some cases, staff may assist in setting up direct instruction and precision teaching programs.

Home Consultation

RSS Outreach Program staff can work directly with parents on home and school goals. Coordination and consistency are important focus areas for success. Programs focus on the generalization of skills, parent training, behavior training for community-based activities, and home routines. Consultation can be provided to assist with chronic absenteeism, school avoidance, and transportation-related skills.

Mentoring of New Behavior Analysts

Outreach staff have at least 12 years of experience as certified Behavior analysts. Outreach consultants provide mentorship to new BCBAs who have been hired directly by school districts. This mentorship includes monthly or bimonthly meetings, observations, and case reviews. Feedback and training are given to expand the scope of competence of the new BCBA.

Supervision of Field Work Students

BCBA candidates must have supervision for their fieldwork hours. Outreach BCBAs can provide supervision to candidates throughout their fieldwork experience. Supervision includes in-person meetings, observation of implementation of ABA techniques, observation of interpersonal interactions, oversight of data collection techniques, reports, and student assessment. The BACB task list is used as a curriculum to ensure that candidates are competent in each task list item before sitting for their exam.

Supervision of Registered Behavior Technicians

Behavior Technicians (RBTs) are required to be supervised by a certified BCBA for at least 5% of their related work hours. Outreach BCBAs can support districts in with this requirement. BCBAs meet with RBTs weekly and observe their work in the field.

Professional Development and Training

Training is available on an individual, small, or large group basis on topics related to applied behavior analysis, disabilities, school discipline and reinforcement systems, data collection systems, teaching, inclusion supports, and social skills. Direct training or coaching can be provided for teachers, paraeducators, or parents/guardians.