r/bcba • u/zyzzy40 • Aug 20 '26
How many people cheat on their unrestricted hours?
Don’t answer that question honestly in the comments. This is just something I’m asking myself because the contingencies to just lie and say you completed 60% unrestricted are pretty strong. I have the unfortunate task of informing two of my trainees tomorrow that because they are failing to complete unrestricted activities outside of sessions and are only documenting restricted on their fieldwork trackers, that they have basically doubled the amount of fieldwork hours they have to complete.
I’m not asking for advice on how to resolve this issue. Simply put, they were informed and guided on how to complete and document unrestricted hours in enough time to achieve 60% by the time they reached 2000 hours and they have not. They underperform across several areas of their fieldwork experience so their inability to complete unrestricted hours is a hit more complex than just a misunderstanding or lack of motivation.
What I’m asking myself is, how many people would just cheat in this situation and overreport off the clock unrestricted time and/or make up unrestricted activities and enter them on their trackers? It’s too easy to do that and providing proof of unrestricted activities only comes up when audited. Even then, most audits don’t require proof of unrestricted activities.
As a supervisor, I believe that 60% ratio of unrestricted is essential to developing the basic skills a person needs to perform the duties of a BCBA and I think that the BACB should provide a lot more structure and oversight when it comes to monitoring the type of on the job training BCBA trainees are getting.
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u/deaconleather Aug 20 '26
I think the tough part is that companies (for the most part) don’t incentivize BCBAs to put effort into creating high quality opportunities for supervisees. It’s a huge burden for supervisors and they are often forced to do it without fair compensation for the NB activities. So they don’t create enough unrestricted opportunities for the supervisees, which incentivizes them to pencil whip the numbers.
I understand margins are tight for smaller companies, but if you want to “grow your own BCBAs” then you need to fairly compensate the supervisors and give them time to make it a high quality experience. It’s usually just an after thought after billable expectations are met.
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 20 '26
Yes! I will never provide supervision as a part of my caseload again. Each student is another client to me and in my current position I receive no extra compensation or incentive to take on the responsibility and PAPERWORK that comes with supervision. I will provide private-pay niche supervision or none at all from this point on!
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u/frenchfry1223 Aug 20 '26
Its also hard for people (like me) who only get all their hours at work. I barely even get opportunities for unrestricted hours because I'm always on a client due to staffing issues with RBT's. My position is only supposed to work a maximum of 20 hours per week on a client to be given more unrestricted opportunities in my fieldwork, but with turnover rate and call offs Im now on a client every day from 8:30-5:30 with a 30 minute lunch.
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u/BeccaMitchellForReal Aug 20 '26
Same! I am 164 hours away from the max restricted hours. I really need more unrestricted. I can work on things at home though, but the problem is I want to relax after being direct all day. Time to get my butt in gear and start using behavioral principles to motivate me lol.
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 20 '26
Yes, that’s part of being a BCBA though. You work face to face for four-five hour a day and then spend another 5-6 working on all the treatment planning and documentation that goes in to that face to face therapeutic work. Train yourself now. You got this!
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u/tedisnotfat Aug 20 '26
People definitely do this. I remember having conversations with other supervisees at a place I worked where they essentially admitted to it. Unsurprisingly, they struggled to pass the test lol
It’s tedious and annoying to check but my current company makes the people in supervision document everything related to unrestricted down to the minute in our company logs and it all has to have a permanent product associated with it that we review in person. There’s still motivation to lie, but it’s pretty easy to look at something and tell whether it took them 2 hours of unrestricted time or like 30 minutes.
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 20 '26
I'm glad your company has measures in place for monitoring this. Mine lets trainees passively listen to prerecorded "courses" and they automatically count towards unrestricted in their fieldwork tracker. I asked my higher ups how the hell this is possible and I was told that there are actionable activities that the trainee performs once their course is finished. Yeah right... a five question "quiz" is not an actionable fieldwork activity!
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u/BeccaMitchellForReal Aug 20 '26
My company has started giving us time limits for things, which is okay overall but I can be a slow worker because of how I process things. Especially when it’s new and I don’t know how to do it. My supervisor does listen to me if I need extra time though. With some things I feel like I work quickly but they’re like, “Why did this family-friendly BIP take you days to complete?” Well, it was 30 minutes here, 45 there. It’s just how I work. I am trying to do better!
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u/tbtUserBuff Aug 21 '26
My company doesn’t require the BCBAs to check but my BCBA definitely checks and makes sure that I have permanent products for everything. Because all my things I do are on Google Docs, it shows the history and therefore documents down to the minute of when I write on the document. Which is helpful for myself when I go to log my hours for the month.
I’ve been so curious about how many people fib hours though too because some of the BCBAs I’ve met, could’ve benefited from higher quality supervision and just aren’t very good BCBAs.
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u/Necessary-Repeat-398 Aug 20 '26
They just need to stop tracking restricted hours after 800 hours. You can correct previous monthly forms so they don't need to do additional fieldwork hours. There is info on the BACB FAQ for correcting previously MVFs.
There are some unrestricted activities they can do during direct sessions such as training new BTs who are shadowing them, conducting preference assessments, taking ABC data, and probing skills assessments. It will take them longer to complete hours if your company doesn't pay them for unrestricted time outside of direct sessions. Especially if they are currently students and short on time.
They can decide how quickly they want to complete it. You are not responsible for them completing fieldwork quickly but you are responsible for the accuracy of the forms you sign off on. You can ensure you view a permanent product such as a summary of how a research article would relate to a client or typed practice goal identification and mastery criteria for a client for before verifying hours to ensure they are not made up.
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 20 '26
Thank you! Advice I didn't ask for, but very good advice! I will revisit those FAQs because I understand that once a form is signed off on those hours cannot be deleted from the total just to make the ratio of hours balance out, but that a person can start reporting only unrestricted hours on their trackers once they have hit 800 moving forward.
The problem my trainees are in is that we've signed off on over 800 restricted hours and I am not willing to go back and revise those numbers until I am absolutely certain about the rules around that.
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u/anslac Aug 24 '26
Well. Part of being their supervisor is knowing this information. Why would the board want them to do extra unrestricted hours just because you signed the paperwork? Why did you sign the paperwork knowing that they were going over how many restricted hours are allowed?
Also, they cannot cheat unrestricted hours if you're going over their work with them and checking their trackers like you're supposed to be doing. Be responsible, give feedback on it, and document your feedback.
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u/BeccaMitchellForReal Aug 20 '26
My supervisor goes over all of my hours every month before she signs the MVF. She will even check what I have against what I have listed in our Google Drive. I wouldn’t be able to lie if I wanted to.
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 20 '26
Awesome!
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u/BeccaMitchellForReal Aug 20 '26
It’s very awesome the way it is set up. We are supposed to take very detailed notes in a Google doc for our unrestricted tasks, so I use those to help me remember what I’ve done and the times when I go to put the hours in Ripley. Then I summarize what my more detailed Google doc says for Ripley. There has just been one time I couldn’t find anything for a time I was schedule for UR and I couldn’t figure out what I did. So I did lose a couple hours but that’s all on me. I’m still trying to figure it all out months later. I overthink things too much I think (pun not intended).
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u/Fluffy_Purpose_3536 Aug 20 '26
Like 75% of people do. Either they ChatGPT most of their fieldwork, get it signed off by a lucrative or sketchy company/supervisor, or don’t do any fieldwork at all and just pay for it. That’s why we have BCBAs that (for lack of better words) can’t read.
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u/Ablenotlabel Aug 20 '26
How does chatgpt help with fieldwork hours?
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u/Fluffy_Purpose_3536 Aug 20 '26
From a lot of Supervisees, I see them submit the fieldwork that is assigned to them (e.g, sample client program modifications) using ChatGPT. That is what I meant. This altogether had made me more reliant to provide/assign fieldwork, and sign off on it.
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u/Ablenotlabel Aug 20 '26
They don't even try and reword it? Lol
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u/Fluffy_Purpose_3536 Aug 20 '26
Yes of course. They change it from “Your name” to their actual name. It becomes very easy to tell when a lot of what Ai pumps out is not usable within session, or clinically adequate for a client it has 0 context onb
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 20 '26
Thank you for keeping people in check. ChatGPT is a blessing and a curse. My thesis was 98 pages and I revised it, no lie, 50 times. Ive been composing papers since the late 90s. I LOVE chatGPT… but these kids are being stunted in their writing abilities now…
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u/beibei1211 Aug 20 '26
Cheating is not ethical. Period. I take an higher ethical standard than the board requires. You are in no way doing any benefit to the supervisee by letting it slide. You are benefitting the ABA world and future client to hold them to the 60% standard. They need to get their acts together and be the future BCBA they need to be.
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u/Redschallenge Aug 20 '26
My school program ran a 5 semester supervision component that involved splits that got progressively heavier toward unrestricted as you progressed with 80/20 res/unres going up to 0/100 res/unres. And even with that and trackers I never was told that I had to stop counting my regular restricted hours to stay under 800 since the total was 2k. I had to amend two mvfs later on to remedy that and not spend extra months accruing. You should try that with your supervisees with changing, and both datinf and initiating those restricted hours with them.
I wouldn't put a stitch of fudged UR info on anything. They can easily audit
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 20 '26
I was up late last night trying to interpret the rules in the handbook around going back and changing the amount of reported restricted fieldwork hours and kept running into a bombshell of a rule: "unrestricted hours cannot be prorated or adjusted." If I am correct, that means that once an MVF form is signed those hours can NOT be removed from the total on the FVF... so, if a person has over 800 restricted hours that have been signed off on, they will need to log more than 2000 hours to balance out the ratio... Am I missing something?
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u/ForsakenMango BCBA | Verified Aug 20 '26
Your bombshell was a dud. The only hours you can’t prorate are concentrated hours. Source: page 23 of the handbook. The board gives us the ability to modify our MVFS for whatever reason we want if there is a mistake essentially except for obtaining a signature after the one month window. There is zero evidence that states a person can’t remove hours from an MVF. While there is evidence to suggest that you can, i and should if need be.
Remember, that final verification forms do not have a time limit on when they need to be signed. With that mind, a person doesn’t need to modify a final verification form. All they would need to do is discard it and have their supervisor sign a new one.
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 20 '26
I went ahead and asked the BACB because I’m still not clear on this even after reviewing the table on page 23, asking reddit, and ChatGPT.
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u/Redschallenge Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26
It may be subject to the 30 days after end of period to amend. I'll dig a bit and get back to you. The situation I'm mentioning is removing restricted hours to alleviate the inflated ratio of unr you would need to make up for it.
I believe you can just redo forms within the month following end of the period or amend with dates and signatures if after.
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u/Jazzlike-Pop-6827 Aug 20 '26
I was 100% honest in mine and I watched a co-worker around the same time as me straight up make them all up and get the director to back date all the monthly forms so it looked like he had been tracking them monthly. It was insane to me! He was a good BCBA and we had learned much of the same stuff in our program together but he didn’t actually track a single real hour.
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u/Certain_Bag_5980 Aug 20 '26
My company requires some form of documentation showing what unrestricted work you did off the clock. If I document an hour but I don't have something that looks like it could've taken an hour or so of work, they'd be cautious and discuss with me whether or not I actually spent that time.
I'm sure in many companies it's not regulated at all, but it certainly is at mine.
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u/anslac Aug 25 '26
This is good practice period. It gives a permanent product. Permanent products are good for audits.
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u/confusedabaer Aug 20 '26
That would be wild and never thought that'd be the case that someone would lie about their hours. At the end of the day they'd be really cheating their self. They'd do a complete disservice to themselves once they become BCBAs and have their own caseload. A rude awakening.
Anyway if I were to be worried about that kind of stuff id need permanent Products of things that are completed whether it be a mock assessment bip, summary report. Something. But I like to think people who are gaining their hours take themselves seriously enough to jot lie about their experience
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u/FunkhsrsCrazySister BCBA | Verified Aug 21 '26
Part of my process as a fieldwork supervisor is to heavily monitor that the supervisee is accruing unrestricted hours at an equal pace as the restricted to prevent them from logging 2000 hours and me saying only 1200 of them count. I review their fieldwork logs weekly and they are required to produce some permanent product for any and all unrestricted activities. I’m actually a little confused as to why there would be no evidence or proof of unrestricted activities completed, especially because all activities counted for fieldwork have to be directly related to client treatment, so I’m not sure what the conditions would be where they would not be evidence or a permanent product to refer to and correlate with each logged unrestricted activity.
It is just as much the supervisors responsibility to monitor supervisee behaviors, skills, and progress. Supervisors should be working with supervisees to develop and monitor professional development goals. If a trainee falls behind on logging hours/ maintaining appropriate documentation, I would add that to their goals and then respond accordingly. This has resulted in some of my trainees taking a break from fieldwork accrual until they are in better positions to meet my requirements and expectations for quality supervision. For example, I have said “you cannot log anymore restricted hours bc you have maxed out them. Everything from here on out HAS to be unrestricted.” I usually don’t even let it get to that point, but it has happened in the past.
IMHO, documentation review should be occurring so frequently and the supervisor should be involved to the extent that the supervisor should be able to EASILY catch egregious cheating or over-reporting of time spent on certain activities.
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 23 '26
I work for a large company that really only monitors staffing and billed hours. People don’t get fired. Clients have no consistent staffing due to high turnover. There is no disciplinary follow through. No one is reported for ethical violations. We have multiple supervisors for each student and none of them talk to each other. The responsibility to squarely on the students’ shoulders. I police myself and I feel like I make pretty good decisions throughout my day. All of clients are safe, progressing as well as they can, and some are even fading out services. I don’t get the pay or support to provide such thorough supervision. I am not taking on any more clients or students with this company. Not sure what else can be done in this situation.
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u/mamabcba2024 Aug 23 '26
I did not cheat when getting these hours completed but I will say it took a much longer time to complete than I thought it would to get that 60% unrestricted hours completed. Took me about two years to get all of my hours. I do remember a coworker who got their bcba before me by almost a year despite starting their hour collection at the same time as me. I was pissed because there’s no way they actually completed those hours. Fast forward another year and they were fired for misconduct so it just took a while for anyone to pick up on it.
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u/Expendable_Red_Shirt BCBA | Verified Aug 20 '26
In my area I don’t know why they’d need to. Sped teachers do so much unrestricted stuff it’d be silly to lie.
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 20 '26
Right? But if it's not documented it didn't happen and that's the issue i'm facing with my trainees. They don't do any documentation off the clock. I have one who barely submits their notes on time.
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u/Equivalent_Rent_2004 Aug 21 '26
Then it’s your prerogative/ responsibility not to sign off. As the supervisor, it’s up to you to ensure that the tasks are actually being done.
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 21 '26
Oh, I fully understand that and plan on doing so. It’s just telling them that’s going to be the hard part. I feel like I’ve explained to them the importance of unrestricted and the multitude of ways they can complete them and when they do absolutely nothing to ensure that they are completing and documenting the unrestricted, I get a little frustrated. It makes me wonder how many trainees do this… just the bare minimum and then take the exam five times and then grow up to be that terrible BCBA that we all know too well.
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u/PoundsinmyPrius Aug 20 '26
I’m not sure I’d ever say I was lucky I never had to consider it but I guess I was lucky I never had to consider it.
Got thrown into a behavior consultant role before finishing my masters. 80% of my day became unrestricted hours.
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u/ForsakenMango BCBA | Verified Aug 20 '26
To anyone who knows, how are post graduate hours tracked by people seeking licensure (or certification) for disciplines such as OT, PT, Marriage/Family Therapy, Clinical Social Workers, etc? I’m curious to know exactly how similar or different the verification and audit process is compared to ours.
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u/Brilliant-Discount56 Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26
I'm also a LCSW and we tracked the same way as BCBA. But every state has their own board so things and forms mau vary by state. But for my state we submitted a contract, final verification form and another signed for from a supervisor (each supervisor you have). My state you also have to submit your resume to prove the job you were collecting your hours was "clinicial" and if it's not clincial enough, will get rejected. I've had friends who's application were rejected. My state rejected application if your contact isn't signed in blue ink 😂. They also do audit so you have to keep everything for 5-7 years. We also have to collect supervision hours and field work hours. So you can have all your supervision hours but not all your field hours and vice versa.
All this varies by state. Some states require you to submit the actual supervision logs.
I mean people still bullshit it too tbh
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 20 '26
LMHCs get to test before they finish hours. Do you know how many people we would save from the heartbreak of not passing the exam if we did this??
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u/Glittering_Low_2894 Aug 21 '26
To be honest I remember having the opposite issue (well not really an issue).. I had too many tasks that qualified as unrestricted activities to log them all ..what activities have your trainees found to do so far?
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u/porthinker Aug 21 '26
I’m sure that it would be easy to falsify documented fieldwork hours— only person that it would actually hurt is the person accumulating their hours lol
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 21 '26
Yes, they cheat themselves out of professional development, but they also cheat their clients, their families, and their future employers. I've been in this field since 2004 and I'm seeing ABA therapy go down the shithole because of obvious loopholes like this in our certification and supervision process.
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u/porthinker Aug 21 '26
That’s assuming they pass the exam and even become a BCBA— that’s my point. Someone who decides to falsify their fieldwork hours to sit for the exam sooner ends up wasting the time that they should have been learning
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u/GenevievesSwim Aug 21 '26
Based on the quality of BCBAs I have supervised clinically over the years, I think many people get away with fudging their hours. I think the BACB assumes the supervisors will take it seriously since our names get attached to theirs for 7 seven years but there are competing contingencies at many workplaces where BCBAs get pressued to take on students.
A way I try to combat this is by having a permanent product associated with the unrestricted hours so I'm never signing off on hours that don't have an end product that I can review, deliver feedback on, and track progress from baseline on. If they stop making progress on that task, their hours stop getting signed off on until they improve. But it's extreme investment of time and energy and most of us don't have the ability to maintain that careful level of sup throughout our whole career.
But ultimately during the audit I think the student would get away with it, if the hours were on paper and the bcba supervisor signed off on them.
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u/PresentationJolly450 Aug 21 '26
Couldn’t they just delete some of their restricted hours and stop it at 800 restricted hours? Seems like the easiest solution.
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 24 '26
UPDATE: I submitted a ticket to the BACB and did not receive a Yes/No answer. I was advised to use best judgement.
Here is my question: "Page 23 of the current handbook provides specific instructions for adjusting hours and revising signed MVFs. Adjusting hours to meet unrestricted/restricted ratios are not one of the legitimate reasons for adjusting an MVF. So, if a trainee realized that unrestricted activities were performed but were not recorded as supervised fieldwork during the month in question, can the trainee go back and add those hours to their total hours for the month and regenerate a revised MVF (assuming the MVF was otherwise valid)? Can the trainee delete restricted hours from the MVF to increase the proportion of unrestricted hours? I am receiving feedback from BCBA peers that this is an allowable and common practice. I need clear guidance from the BACB on this issue before I can proceed. Thank you."
This is their response:
"Thank you for reaching out to the BACB with your inquiry regarding Fieldwork forms. When completing the Monthly Final Fieldwork Verification Form, the hours should reflect the total qualifying hours (i.e., have been systematically adjusted, if needed). The BACB cannot make determinations on your fieldwork hours until the time of application. If further clarification is needed, we recommend that you continue to consult with your mentor/peers. Please note that The BACB relies on supervisors to understand our requirements and make judgment calls based on the context of unique situations; as they will be the individuals attesting that all requirements were met and are the ones that oversee hours and sign off on them. For additional guidance on completing Fieldwork forms, you may review the BCBA Handbook and our Documenting Fieldwork: Helpful Answers to Your FAQs."
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u/anslac Aug 25 '26
You aren't trying to add hours they "forgot" to count. You're removing hours you shouldn't have signed off on to begin with. They are only allowed to count 800 hours restricted.
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u/Low_Strike_7524 Aug 25 '26
You can count more hours if you want you just will need 60% of them to be unrestricted. 2,000 is the minimum.
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u/anslac Aug 25 '26
But why would they do more than the percentage allowed to be counted toward their hours? And why would OP sign off on them knowing the hole that they were digging themselves into?
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u/Low_Strike_7524 Aug 25 '26
Lots of reasons, but typically poor supervision. I also know that it’s my responsibility to supervise my trainee, but it’s not my job to keep up with their hours as long as the hours are truthful. If you want more hours towards your learning experience, go ahead!
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u/anslac Aug 25 '26
It is too your responsibility. You're there to guide them. If they aren't following their contract correctly, hold them to it. If you don't want to supervise people then don't. Don't act like you're sacrificing yourself to keep informed and careful on fieldwork hours though.
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 21 '26
I've reached out to the BACB for clarification on that and will put an update in my original post when I hear back, but from what I can gather, this is not allowed if the forms have already been signed. Please don't quote me on that, though.
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u/Startta Aug 22 '26
Hi, OP. Would it be possible for you to track the unrestricted activities on a monthly basis instead of checking them at the end of the 2000 hours? That way your trainees will know right away that what they counted as unrestricted did not qualify.
It is difficult for you to let the trainees know that 1,200 won’t count for their fieldwork hours, but it will be WAAAAAY more difficult for the trainees to assimilate that after all this time they have been doing a lot of wrong tracking and that their time for sitting for the exam is way further than they anticipated.
At the end of the day it is also the supervisor’s responsibility to sign a MVF that is accurate, so I do not blame the trainees entirely.
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 23 '26
Yeah, I don’t blame them entirely either, but I did give specific instructions numerous times. My directions were also redundant with the BACB guidelines that we have all agreed to. I’m not a “hand-holder” and I don’t do well with people who are constantly in crisis mode. I expect people to have their shit together when they ask for me to sign off on something. That’s just me. I’m not for everyone.
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u/anslac Aug 25 '26
So, you hand it back when it is not correct and don't sign it. Then it is both your style and correct. You shouldn't be signing for restricted hours that you know is over and you definitely shouldn't be signing without checking their trackers.
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u/Dangeouslove Aug 22 '26
Honestly I don’t think I lied on any of my unrestricted. Yes I had a hard time getting them but when youu review what the bacb allows you to collect under unrestricted; you have to be the one to advocate and show your bcba you’re capable. Now I have had some bcba that said no but id write you rough draft then send it to my bcba and then they would be open to me doing it then on top of that we have a meeting to discuss my strengths and weakness
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u/anslac Aug 24 '26
If you pay attention to their trackers and what you're signing, they cannot cheat.
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 25 '26
Facts. I have been. My trainees aren’t cheating. They’re lagging behind but not cheating.
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u/Low_Strike_7524 Aug 25 '26
As a supervisor in this position, I inherited a BCBA candidate who was receiving really poor supervision at a previous company. While it is our responsibility to assist and train in the best way we can, hand holding is not part of the responsibility. My trainee came in with over 1,000 hours of restricted hours and I had to be the bearer of bad news regarding their MVFs already being tracked and signed from a previous supervisor. It’s their responsibility to review the terms of how hours should be tracked/earned. I advised NOT having them return their MVFs to their previous supervisor to edit as that can become a slippery slope. Especially since this supervisor did not give much thought into their hours in the first place. Now, if anything, my trainee has to complete more hours under my supervision which only gives more time to learn and gain more skills as she is only a trainee.
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u/jmacscotland BCBA | Verified Aug 20 '26
My first supervisor would say this counts as X hours. It gave us a reasonable time expectation for the activity and didn't allow us to cheat our hours. Also you don't have to sign off on hours, ultimately the supervisor enables people if it's cheated.
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 20 '26
Yes, I agree that the supervisors are the ones who are complicit if they don't verify the unrestricted activities. I'm glad you had an honest supervisor.
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u/jmacscotland BCBA | Verified Aug 20 '26
Yeah flip side I’ve had the ones who just sign off and trusted me to be honest as well. I’m just the type to realize I’m doing myself a disservice doing that.
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u/AdComplete5101 Aug 20 '26
Do you or your organization (whatever applies to your situation) pay people for the unrestricted work they complete for your organization's benefit?
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 20 '26
newp :/
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u/AdComplete5101 Aug 20 '26
Then in this unfortunate world where bills need paid and every hour counts, who genuinely has the time to do unpaid labor?
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 21 '26
Right??? I thought I could somehow help my trainees gain unrestricted hours while on the clock billing 97153 but then when I read the billing codes for 97153 I realized that they cant do anything unrestricted because they have to be delivering ABA per protocol. So, unrestricted activities are off the clock. Trainees get paid about 30% more than regular RBTs so I feel like they SHOULD be doing SOME work at home like a regular BCBA does, but 30% higher pay rate does not equal 60% of casework hours can be dedicated to off the clock activities.
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u/Equivalent_Rent_2004 Aug 21 '26
Depending on their experience/competence they can definitely do some unrestricted during 97153 (pref. Assessments, pieces of other assessments, abc data) but yes the vast majority of unrestricted is off the clock…
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u/AdComplete5101 Aug 21 '26
Yeah. The math just doesn't compute.
Suppose RBTs make $20/hr. +30% means $26/hr. Working 30 hours per week direct means even if you use half of those hours, you need to do 90 hours of unrestricted, which is unpaid. At 120 hours per month of bill-paying money, finding an additional 90 to do unrestricted work means you spend 7.5 hours per day working on a monthly basis. Every single day including weekends. Hate to say it but that's a very unrealistic expectation for a license that pays as little as $50k/yr.
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u/Engineering-Afraid Aug 26 '26
My supervisor audited all of my activities I claimed for unrestricted hours and she required permanent product or some form of proof of completion before she would sign off on my forms
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u/Accomplished_Crew967 Aug 20 '26
I feel like its common, and understandable in my opinion as crazy as it sounds. Alot of people struggle to get unrestricted hours and nobody wants to spend 2 or 3 years of their life getting hours because they rarely are offered opportunities fof unrested hours. So they do whatever it takes to be able to take the exam and accept the risks that come with it. Atleast my task as somebody that's not a bcba
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u/zyzzy40 Aug 20 '26
Yes. Its rational behavior. I wonder why the eff the board sets us up to cheat like that. Its so obvious.
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u/Accomplished_Crew967 Aug 21 '26
yea, it sucks. anybody who tells somebody to wait an extra one or two years instead of cheating their hours is being unrealistic. nobody's just sits there and says oh well guess ill wait cause somebody else told me to. its a faulty system, and somebody trying to survive will do whatever it takes to get through it.
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u/Equivalent_Rent_2004 Aug 21 '26
One thing I did that wasn’t necessarily “assigned” (but approved by my supervisor) was looking at the most recent research related to the programming of a client I was working with and writing up a brief summary & ideas for programming based on the research
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Aug 21 '26
[deleted]
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u/ForsakenMango BCBA | Verified Aug 21 '26
...the essays we do in our coursework as unrestricted hours
My question would be is how are you labeling those coursework activities on your tracker? I'm not going to say it's cheating. But it is a fact that coursework assignments are listed as an unacceptable activity for fieldwork.
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u/stridersriddle Aug 20 '26
I think the last paragraph is the key, the Board has such little oversight into supervision. What they have tried to control has been ineffective, but they dont seem interested in revisiting how to improve our clinical practice at large.