When a child gets diagnosed with a developmental delay, the first place most of us tend to go is ‘wise-old’ Google. Feelings of fear, stress, worry, anxiety start to creep up as we scroll through the pages of the Internet. As parents, we’re looking for a way into this new world we’ve been introduced to, and ultimately, are looking for someone to help navigate us, answer questions, and support our child.

At Optimal Beginnings, we strive to offer a safe and welcoming space as you begin a new journey with your family. We offer hope that you can thrive despite the despair you may be feeling. That’s our philosophy when it comes to welcoming new families from the very beginning of their journey with us – and that starts with our Onboarding Process.

Our Onboarding Process is a joyous occasion! We take a family approach becaus to us, it truly is like welcoming a new member of our family to the table. As we grow, our family grows. We become a support network for each other. We become a fiber in the cloth that makes us one. Our focus is to empower you and your child.

This blog post will walk you through our Onboarding Process – a series of first steps to integrate you into our services. Our goal is to make your ABA and speech services as easy and efficient as possible.

Step One – Get in Contact with Our Office

Contact our office by phone, email, or through the form on our website (we have one for MD, VA, and TN) . Based on your information, our Office Assistant will place you on the right track for what service(s) is appropriate for your child. Because our service models are based on individual needs, and because we accept insurance, there can be a number of nuances in what you need and how we can support you and your family.

At this point, you’ll fill out an Enrollment Form that includes information like your insurance card, diagnosis report, and your child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP). Our Enrollment Form also helps our staff understand you and your child’s story and equips our team to walk you through the next steps.

The Administrative Team reviews the Enrollment Form, verifies your benefits, and creates a profile for you and your child. An email is sent with an explanation of benefits. Once a spot opens up in your required services, our team reaches out to start the Intake Process.

***If your required services are full, we will add you to the waitlist. We will contact you once a spot opens up.

Step Two – The Intake Process

Once we confirm a spot for your child and your availability for the session spots available, we schedule an Intake Process with two of our Board-Certified Behavior Analysts, also known as BCBAs.

Intakes are conducted in-person and are designed to collect as much information as possible from interviewing you and observing your child through formal assessments. During the Intake, our two BCBAs will divide the intake process: one BCBA will be assigned as your child’s Clinical Director who will interview the parents only. The second BCBA will complete an assessment with your child.

Upon completion of the in-person intake and assessments, all of our teams work together to come up with a plan for your family:

• Our Clinical Team develops long-term and short-term goals for your child that will be reviewed with you and your insurance company.
• Our Administrative Team works with you to set up the ongoing service schedule. This team will also work with your insurance company to authorize services.
• Our Authorizations Team obtains authorization for intake appointment from insurance if needed.

 Step Three – Let’s Begin Your Services

Now that the Intake Process is complete, you can begin services at Optimal Beginnings! Your child’s Clinical Director will write up a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) and design a Learning Tree (also known as a Clinical Program) for your child. We pass on the information to our Authorizations Team who obtains ongoing authorization from your insurance company. In the meantime, our Office Manager will confirm:

• The developing plan and sessions appropriate for your child.
• The schedule of the plan and sessions for the services required.
• A date for an introductory session to get you and your child started.

Once we confirm your intro session, you are officially part of the Optimal Beginnings family. The next part of the process is where we support you and equip you to become empowered, knowledgeable, and confident individuals.

What’s Next

Over the years, our Onboarding process has evolved, but our philosophy to empower your family has not changed. Our goal is to make this process efficient, easy, and welcoming as we have found it extremely helpful for parents when we tackle the insurance, authorizations, and the logistics straight from the beginning. In this way, we can concentrate on you and your child once services begin. Take a look, too, at the most common questions parents ask us about our Onboarding Process HERE.

We invite you to join our family: get in contact with us, join us on our monthly newsletter filled with parenting advice and important updates, or connect with us on Facebook. We cannot wait for you to join us and for trusting us to be your advocates!