Partnering with contract vendors and outpatient providers – Fostering collaboration & a whole child approach
By Stephanie Bates, M.A., BCBA, LBA – Director, Behavioral Health
One of the most common things we see happening for children who receive many different therapeutic services across different settings is for each service to occur in a silo. And, sadly, no matter how great each of those services are, when collaboration, shared planning, and focus are absent, none of them are able to be as effective as possible. This leaves the child, their family, and the service providers frustrated and can easily turn into the blame game about who isn’t doing “enough” or which therapy “isn’t worth it.”
Within the school setting, we often see this pattern emerge between school staff, contracted providers, and outpatient therapy services. Every person on that team wants what is best for the students; however, the “best” is hard to achieve if the team is not collaborating to ensure all programming works in tandem rather than in parallel or, even worse, opposition / competition.
Proactive efforts to facilitate collaboration among providers and family members is essential for minimizing the risks of operating in silo and increasing the benefits of each individual therapy or service:
- Always invite outside providers to IEP meetings, therapy review meetings, and treatment planning meetings
This doesn’t mean every person will be able to attend every meeting across settings but remembering to include each provider on the front end builds relationship, trust, and allows for information sharing even if attendance is not feasible
- Openly share goals, assessments, and ideas for addressing across settings
There is virtually no risk in sharing the goals you are working on and many potential benefits, including other providers seeing ways in which they can also address those goals for other contexts (e.g., SLP at school has recently introduced AAC; home-based BCBA can provide additional coaching and support to parents for using this at home, both in and out of therapy sessions)
- Assume positive intent
We can easily feel as though other providers are “stepping on our toes” or judging the plans that we’ve made when they ask questions or provide suggestions. Going into every discussion of goals, progress, and where to go next assuming positive intent from everyone involved helps the conversation stay 1) focused on the student’s best interest, 2) solution oriented, and 3) collaborative across all providers
- Keep parent / caregiver voices front and center
Therapy providers may be the experts on their respective fields, but parents are the experts on their child and their goals and priorities for their family help the providers maintain shared focus and efforts to develop cohesive and collaborative plans driving toward the same long-term outcomes.
- Take time to educate members of the team on the role of each provider / discipline and how these different expertise areas work together
Don’t assume that everyone already knows how and why each therapy works or how a parent’s long-term goal for their child will impact the skills taught early in life. Taking time to ensure everyone understands each participant’s role & expertise fosters shared expectations and the ability to understand the needs of each other – ultimately increasing the density of support for the student
As you think about how to best support your students, the number one thing to keep in mind is how they will best achieve their long-term potential. And the answer is ALWAYS getting the most robust and interconnected support possible. This is not just through positive relationships between families and the school, but also with outside providers and ensuring effective collaboration. When all parties are working collectively toward a shared outcome, the benefits and learning in each individually are amplified by the work of the others.
