Behavioral Services

This page provides information on the delivery of behavioral services through the Developmental Disability waivers in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The THERAPEUTIC BEHAVIORAL CONSULTATION SEARCH ENGINE may help you locate providers of this service, and professional resources and training videos are included for behaviorists and those that want to learn more about behavioral science. Additionally, content and resources related to quality reviews of behavioral programming are provided.         

Therapeutic consultation is a service available through the FIS and CL waivers encompassing an array of therapy modalities (i.e. speech/language, occupational therapy, behavioral consultation) that may assist in helping implement a person’s individual support plan.  In addition to the waiver regulations, the provider manual may be a useful resource for readers (select Developmental Disabilities Waivers).

The brief Therapeutic Behavioral Consultation overview video may be helpful to individuals and families in understanding what this service is, who it may benefit, and how individuals and supporters can successfully participate in this service. This video is not an overview of regulations or the provider manual; see the links above for that information.  

The DBHDS/DMAS Practice Guidelines for Behavior Support Plans offers basic guidelines on the minimum elements that constitute an adequately designed behavior support plan through the Developmental Disability Medicaid waivers in Virginia.  See the button below on “Quality reviews” for more information.  

Use the THERAPEUTIC BEHAVIORAL CONSULTATION SEARCH ENGINE to locate behaviorists that deliver this service. 

If you are a provider enrolled with DMAS to provide this waiver service and would like to have your organization’s contact information listed (or updated) on the search engine, please complete this form.  Providers must be enrolled with DMAS for the therapeutic consultation waiver service to be listed on the search engine.         

There are two primary provider types that deliver therapeutic consultation behavioral services in Virginia: Positive Behavior Support Facilitators (PBSF) and Board Certified Behavior Analysts®/Licensed Behavior Analysts (BCBA®/LBA). 

The DBHDS/DMAS Practice Guidelines for Behavior Support Plans outline the required content areas and associated minimum elements for behavioral programming through the therapeutic consultation waiver service.  Additional information on positive behavior supports, person centered behavior planning, and trauma informed care is included.  

DBHDS created the Behavior Support Plan Adherence Review Instrument (BSPARI) to determine adherence to the Practice Guidelines.  The BSPARI Scoring Instructions and Feedback Guide outlines the scoring logic and the quality review process.  An optional behavior support plan template is available here. 

In 2024, the creators of the BSPARI, in collaboration with Dr. Neil Deochand at University of Cincinnati, published work on quality assurance. This publication includes an overview of existing quality assurance instruments and offers considerations for readers interested in policy to practice alignment.  See a read-only version here: “The Development of a Behavior Plan Quality Assurance Instrument in a Publicly Funded System of Care“. 

See a brief video overview of these efforts here.    

To review reporting data on quality assurance and other metrics, visit this page and navigate to the reports labeled “Behavioral Supports Report”. 

BSPARI Element Training: Behaviors for Increase

BSPARI Element Training: Non-Operant Conditions that Influence Behavior

Archives for Behavior Analysis in Practice

Archives for Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis

Association for Behavior Analysis International

Association for Contextual Behavioral Science

Association for Positive Behavior Support

Association for Professional Behavior Analysts

Association for Science in Autism Treatment

Behavior Analyst Certification Board ®

B.F. Skinner Foundation

Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies

Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports

Council of Autism Service Providers

Kennedy Krieger Institute

International Society for Performance Improvement

National Autism Center’s National Standards Project

PartnerShip Behavior Analytic Research Citations

PubMed Central (free full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM))

Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior

Standard Celeration Society

Western Michigan University Autism Center of Excellence Training Videos

Virginia Association for Behavior Analysis

Virginia Positive Behavior Support Project 

Addressing Risks in Part V: Tips for Therapeutic Consultation Services

Service spotlight tip from 1/14/25 DBHDS Provider Network List Serv for Therapeutic Consultation. ISP & Service Authorization Tips can include but are not limited to:

  • For all services other than behavior consultation, ensure the service is consultative in nature. For example, hours requested for speech consultation, occupational therapy consultation, physical therapy consultation, recreation consultation, psychology consultation, and rehabilitation consultation are appropriate for a consultative need and are not direct therapy. Include in the justification that the services do not duplicate other services already provided. 
  • If speech consultation, occupational therapy consultation, physical therapy consultation, recreation consultation, psychology consultation, or rehabilitation consultation services are not consultative in nature, the State Plan option should be explored. Service Authorization request should include explanation of exploration and exhaustion, along with detail as to how or why therapeutic consultation for these services is the appropriate option through waiver.
  • Incorporate the service need within the ISP, service authorization justification, and the benefits of the service to the individual.
  • For behavior consultation: if the individual under 21 years old and direct therapy is included as a part of the service authorization request, identify in the justification if behavioral therapy (e.g., ABA) has been explored through State Plan option for Medical Assistance / EPSDT, along with the outcome. If the service is solely consultative with no direct therapy requested for an individual under 21 years old, exploring State Plan option / EPSDT does not need to be provided in the justification. If the individual is 21 years of age or older, exploring State Plan option does not need to be provided in the justification, regardless of whether direct therapy is included in the service request or not.  

DBHDS behavior analysts are providing features on various aspects of behavior analysis via the ABA Snippets section of the Office of Integrated Health’s monthly newsletter. Snippets are typically pertinent to behavioral consultation, but at times may branch out into the larger corpus of human behavior. Please explore the newsletter and OIH website for safety alerts, educational resources, and health support network information.

We are pleased to announce a training series on Navigating Therapeutic Behavioral Consultation for New Providers.  The following three-part video series and associated task analysis offers an overview to new providers to assist with provider enrollment, using WaMS, getting started with the service, and understanding the quality assurance and human rights expectations. 

Skill-Based Treatment This training overviews the Skill-Based Treatment package along with variations of the process and troubleshooting; the training is an extension of the Practical Functional Assessment training below.  Slide deck available here. 

Introduction to the Practical Functional Assessment This training provides an overview of functional analysis procedures, with specific introductory information on the Practical Functional Assessment. Asynchronous continuing education certificate is not available for this training.  Slide deck for the training is available here.  

BSPARI Review Updates, September 2024 This video outlines the revise and resubmit process for BSPARIs not in adherence with the DBHDS/DMAS Practice Guidelines for Behavior Support Plans that began in October 2024. Behavior programs that are not in adherence are to be revised and resubmitted to DBHDS. Outcome data on BSPARI reviews over time are also reviewed. The Q&A from this webinar is available here.  

Quality Reviews in Therapeutic Behavioral Consultation, November 2023 This training outlines the BSPARI and related feedback sessions, trend results of reviews, and on-target examples and resources, as of 11/2023.

BSPARI Trends, August 2022 This training outlines the purpose and nature of the BSPARI and related feedback sessions, trend results of reviews, and on-target examples and resources, as of 8/2022.

Introduction to Functional Behavior Assessment Training from West Virginia University on basics of functional behavior assessment (FBA).  

Advanced Functional Behavior Assessment Training from West Virginia University on advanced FBA.

Behavioral Skills Training  West Virginia University presents an overview on behavioral skills training. 

Advanced Behavior Support Planning Training from West Virginia University on advanced behavior support planning. 

Graphical Displays and Analysis: Plotting without Deception Part 1 The first part of a training from University of Cincinnati on graphing and analysis.  

Graphical Displays and Analysis: Plotting without Deception Part 2 The second part of a training from University of Cincinnati on graphing and analysis.  

Our team has experience in behavioral science across adult and child populations in a wide range of settings (e.g., clinic-based, schools, community-based, residential, crisis services) and applications (e.g., education, functional behavior assessment and function-based treatment, organizational behavior management, positive behavior interventions and supports, verbal behavior analysis). We welcome your questions, suggestions, and overall feedback.  You can contact us as follows:

Nathan Habel, Director of Behavioral Services and Projects: nathan.habel@dbhds.virginia.gov 

Courtney Pernick, Behavior Analyst: courtney.pernick@dbhds.virginia.gov

Brian Phelps, Behavior Analyst: brian.phelps@dbhds.virginia.gov   

John Tolson, Behavior Analyst: john.tolson@dbhds.virginia.gov

Nick Vanderburg, Behavior Analyst: nick.vanderburg@dbhds.virginia.gov