A University Based Social Services Parent Training Model: A Telehealth Adaptation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

With the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in social distancing recommendations many service providers find themselves altering the way they must provide medically necessary therapy. Even with the advent of more advanced telehealth technology, implementation of behavioral programming falls mainly on the caregivers of the clients that are served. This crisis brings to question ethical dilemmas and upends the current ways many programs may have been implemented across the world. As a result, a re-evaluation of how these services are delivered is in order. This paper reviews how a University-Based, State-funded Service Delivery Program (USSDP) provided essential and necessary services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to describe how the USSDP quickly adopted a telehealth care model in a program that previously had not delivered services in this modality. Ethical, contextual, and competency-based factors are reviewed in the context of this organization followed by a dialogue on broader generalization suggestions utilizing an active support model of care within telehealth restrictions.

Single-Case Data Analysis: A Practitioner Guide for Accurate and Reliable Decisions

Practitioners frequently use single-case data for decision-making related to behavioral programming and progress monitoring. Visual analysis is an important and primary tool for reporting results of graphed single-case data because it provides immediate, contextualized information. Criticisms exist concerning the objectivity and reliability of the visual analysis process. When practitioners are equipped with knowledge about single-case designs, including threats and safeguards to internal validity, they can make technically accurate conclusions and reliable data-based decisions with relative ease. This paper summarizes single-case experimental design and considerations for professionals to improve the accuracy and reliability of judgments made from single-case data. This paper can also help practitioners to appropriately incorporate single-case research design applications in their practice.

Programming in Restrictive Housing: Considerations for Improving Outcome Evaluations

A number of studies have identified “what works” in regard to the successful implementation of correctional programming over the past several decades. Few studies, however, have examined the complexities associated with programming in restrictive housing. Using data from a Midwestern department of corrections, we examined whether the provision of programming in restrictive housing achieved desired outcomes (e.g., reductions in inmate misconduct). The findings revealed the amount of time served in restrictive housing and confinement in different types of restrictive housing may influence estimations of a treatment effect. As a growing number of states seek to reform the use of restrictive housing, the proper implementation of cognitive-behavioral programming may increase institutional security and safety.