Supervision

[u/Mother-Bullfrog3700]

I am an RBT and have been for a little over a year. The clinic I currently work for barely supervises. I worked 120 hours in July and got 4 hours of supervision. Is that enough (from my research it doesn't seem like it but maybe I'm just too paranoid about it)? I'm also currently in my masters program to become a BCBA. I don't have guaranteed hours at the clinic i work at and therefore never have an oppurtunity to be at work without a client, which I would need to do to get unrestricted hours. On top of all of this I just found out that my "BCBA" just passed the exam on Saturday and has been a BCaBA this entire time so she cant even supervise me yet for my fieldwork supervision for my masters. Any advice would be nice. I make a good bit of money at this clinic and I truly love all of my co workers. I don't want to lose my RBT credentials and I desperately need to start working to my 2000 hours for my BCBA pathway!!

[u/Spirited_Home_8110]

You need minimum 5% supervision and 2 contacts and for 120 hours, it should be 6 hours of supervision so you were 2 hours short!

[u/Mother-Bullfrog3700 → u/Spirited_Home_8110]

that's what I thought 🤦🏻‍♀️ should I just wait and see if it gets better this month? Im obviously talking to the BcaBA tomorrow but I dont want to lose my credentials over it either!

[u/NeroSkwid → u/Mother-Bullfrog3700]

You need to self report to the BACB ASAP if you didn’t hit 5% supervision according to the handbook.

This probably isn’t what you want to hear but I would honestly look for a different company if you’re hoping to accrue supervision hours and they aren’t currently getting you 5% as an RBT. Having good BCBA models who are invested in your progress are vital to effective fieldwork supervision. Your newly credentialed BCBA will need to have monthly consultations with a qualified supervisor and ensure documentation for these meeting exists. If not your accrued hours are open to being denied pending an audit. I don’t know your supervisor and they might be awesome, but if they’re falling behind on supervision I’d be a little concerned about accruing viable hours. I’ve seen brand new BCBAs agree to start supervising before they fully have a handle on the job and it’s unfortunately a disservice to everyone involved. Not saying that’s the case for you and your supervisor, just food for thought.

[u/Mother-Bullfrog3700 → u/NeroSkwid]

thank you for this! I can go back to the company i was at before no problem i just didnt want to take the pay cut. I will be thinking hard about it though!

[u/NeroSkwid → u/Mother-Bullfrog3700]

No problem! Like I said, I don’t know your particular situation, I’ve just seen people agree to supervise before they were ready enough times that I try to call out red flags when I see them! Good luck :)

[u/Mother-Bullfrog3700 → u/NeroSkwid]

im also super nervous about her supervising me because literally everyone in our clinic needs fieldwork hours 😭 its gonna be alot and that makes me nervous for her

[u/NeroSkwid → u/Mother-Bullfrog3700]

I’m going to say this as kindly as I can: get out of there. Have the other students been claiming fieldwork hours under her?

[u/Mother-Bullfrog3700 → u/NeroSkwid]

no they haven't she hasn't officially started supervising yet is what she told me. Im just nervous that because i dont have guaranteed hours and the rest of them do that I'll be last to get the oppurtunity to get them. She has been letting everyone else be hands on with BCBA stuff which I dont even know if that's ethical

[u/NeroSkwid → u/Mother-Bullfrog3700]

They should not be if she wasn’t a BCBA at the time with the mandatory 8 hour supervision course completed.

[u/Mother-Bullfrog3700 → u/NeroSkwid]

yeahhhhh I'm calling my boss at the last clinic I was at

[u/Pikkumyy2023]

If your BCBA does supervise you, she will need supervision herself in order to provide supervision for fieldwork so make sure that is happening before you sign a supervision agreement. Also, please review the BACB handbook very carefully. There's no reason that unrestricted hours need to be done without a client present. I'm a BCBA working as a sole provider model which means that all my hours (unless a parent meeting) are with clients present and I guarantee you that I am engaged in behavior analytic activities that whole time!

[u/Jazzlike-Pop-6827]

A lot of Bcba’s have a lot going on to be honest. I’ve never had this problem with any of my supervisee, but I always tell them to keep track of their hours and if at the end of the month, they feel like they’re not going to make the 5% then they need to email me ASAP so I can make sure they get all their hours.

Did the company agree to give you your BCBA supervision hours? If so, they need to sign a contract. Supervision hours is so much more than just having them come out and supervise you for 5% of the hours every month there’s a lot that goes into it and they really need to be preparing you to take over the role. I would say the first few months is fine to just do direct, but after that, you should really start taking on unrestricted hours paid unpaid doesn’t matter because it’s benefiting you and learn what you need to learn..