Intensive Behavior Services

Mary Cariola Center Offers Intensive Behavior Services to Provide Behavior Support

Mary Cariola Center, known for educating and caring for people ages 3 to 22 with intellectual developmental disabilities and medical complexities expands services to include Intensive Behavior Services. This Home and Community Based Waiver Service, provides behavior support services to individuals with developmental disabilities who live in non-certified settings.

These services are designed to help individuals live more independently in their homes and communities, but could be adapted for other settings with consultation and collaboration between teams. The Mary Cariola IBS provider must ensure the plan does not have conflicting or inappropriate strategies.

A Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) is conducted by a Mary Cariola Behavior Analyst. The findings from the FBA are used to create a Behavior Support Plan (BSP). Family members and other caregivers are trained to utilize the strategies in the BSP aimed at decreasing target behavior. The Behavior Analyst monitors the BSP for efficacy and collaborates with the team to ensure strategies within the plan remain effective and ethical. In New York State the program is administered by the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD).

Service duration is limited and capped at one year (50 Hours) from enrollment into the service. There are some instances, when reauthorization for additional hours are available in limited circumstances. Physical interventions and Time Out Rooms are not included in a BSP developed through IB Services.

In order to track progress and ensure that the plan is being followed, the team meets every 60 days to review the implementation and effectiveness of the BSP.

The requirements for applying for the service are listed within the Administrative Directive Memorandum (ADM), which are official documents issued by OPWDD to provide guidance, direction, and clarification on various aspects of services and supports for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The ADM can be accessed through OPWDD’s website. A Care Manager is responsible for the application and its contents. Look for ADM #2022-04 Intensive Behavioral (IB) Services. Requirements can be found at opwdd.ny.gov.