About Our Behavior Services In Oregon

Oregon

  • PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR SERVICES

    K-Plan / Medicaid Funded; Available to People Receiving DD Services in Oregon

    BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS

    The benefit of this option is that Developmental Disability funding pays for it; the downside of this is that there are rigid rules about how the State requires/allows these services to be offered and there are limitations to how we could work directly with your client/loved one.

    Some people ask if they can do a combination of K-Plan Funded and Private Pay / Consultation Services. Under Oregon ODDS Rules there must be at least a 1 year break between these two types of services to avoid having any conflict of interest. And while it is not impossible, it is very hard to get an exception to do both K-Plan Funded and Private Pay Services, so this option should not be considered viable for most clients.

  • K-Plan Funded Professional Behavior Services are specific to residents of the state of Oregon who experience intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and receive developmental disability services.

  • These services are paid for through Developmental Disability K-Plan funding- through a County Developmental Disability Program or Brokerage Services.

    Fees are based on the current ODDS rate per hour which can be found in the Expenditure Guidelines.

  • Our goal at Among Friends is to have the client with the same Behavior Professional through the FBA, PBSP and Maintenance Services process; however, it is possible that due to staffing and availability, that an individual may work with more than one behavior professional throughout the course of services.

    Our team meets weekly to discuss behaviors, strategies and any challenges that arise. All of these staff are supervised and the final documents are reviewed by our Lead Behavior Professional, Karen Armstrong.

    Staff are also given additional training, resources, and guidance by Shanya Luther, Founder and Co-owner of Among Friends, LLC.

  • Temporary Emergency Safety Plan (TESP) - avg. of 3- 5 hours

    The state allows 15 days from the date of the signed contract to complete a TESP.

    • Phone interviews and writing the TESP

    • Team meeting to review the TESP

    Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) - max. of 15 hours

    While the state allows 45 days for this service, we attempt to complete it in 30 days.

    • Initial Team Meeting via Zoom.

    • Interviews via Phone/Zoom & Home Visit via Zoom.

    • Writing the FBA.

    • Team Meeting to Review the FBA via zoom.

    Positive Behavior Support Plan (PBSP) - max. of 12 hours

    While the state allows 90 days for this service, we attempt to complete it in 30 days.

    • Writing the PBSP.

    • Team Meeting to Review the PBSP via Zoom.

    Maintenance, Training, and Revision of the Plan (MTR) - max. of 18 hours in a client’s ISP year

    While the state allows 1 year for this service, our intent is to complete it in 6 months following the finalization of the PBSP.

    • Monthly sessions for 6 months with the primary caregiver and the client to learn how the client is experiencing the implementation of the plan.

    • Monthly team meetings for 6 months with all members of the support team to track the progress of the behavior plan.

    • Editing / revising of the plan as needed.

    • Creating resources, developing tools and designing strategies to support positive behaviors, as needed.

    • Additional training on the plan, as needed.

  • A team approach is required for Behavior Services to be successful. For this reason we require that personal agents, service coordinators, and all other members of the core support team attend 2 team meetings for the FBA, 1 team meeting for the PBSP, and monthly team meetings for the Maintenance, Training, and Revision of the Plan.

    Since we have to schedule all interviews to complete the FBA, we depend on Personal Agents and Service Coordinators to arrange the team meetings. Our staff will offer available times in our schedule to the case manager and ask them to confirm with the other team members.

    For us to do our job, we need the members of a support team to set up appointments with us, be on time, and to follow up on phone calls or emails from us in a timely manner.

    If Among Friends, LLC does not get the responses we need to schedule meetings and interviews or to complete our work, we will email 3 warnings of possible suspension of services to the case manager and any other key members of the team.

    If we do not receive the contact/responses we need following this, we will suspend services and give the client’s slot to someone else.

  • Due to limited staff and extensive caseloads, the Among Friends behavior team continues to conduct a majority of our services, including team meetings, via Zoom or by phone. 

    Family and support staff interviews are conducted by phone. 

    The method used to conduct the home visit/client will vary based on client’s choice; however, Among Friends prefers virtual sessions to eliminate travel time, which allows us to support more clients  

    Please note: Among Friends will is unable travel outside of the following counties without negotiating prior to beginning services:

    • Multnomah

    • Clackamas

    • Washington,

    • Marion

    • Columbia

Intake Steps

The following information is what Among Friends needs in order to begin for K-plan funded Professional Behavior Services (FBA, PBSP and Maintenance Services) funded through a County DD Program or Brokerage Services in Oregon.

  • If you have not done so already, please fill out our Behavior Services Intake Form.

    To fill out this form, you will need:

    • The client name (or initials)

    • The client prime (if applicable)

    • The client date of birth (DOB)

    • The client’s current age

    • The client’s guardianship status

    • A brief description of the challenging behaviors

    • A rating of the severity of the challenging behaviors

    Once you submit the form we will follow up with the case manager to gather the remaining items we need. If the case manager does not hear from us within 1 week, please call us at 503-610-3335.

  • Please email us all documents scanned separately and labeled to clearly identify what they are:

    • A Completed and Signed “Contract” (Service Agreement and/or Change Form)

    • A Current ISP

      • If the behaviors of concern are not clearly outlined in the ISP you will need to email us any additional documents where the behaviors are clearly described.

    • A Completed and Signed ROI (use this link)

      • Type or print clearly when completing the form

      • Please include the following:

        • A phone number AND e-mail address for each contact person, or indicate that one is not available

        • Each contact person’s relationship to the client.

        • Anyone the team feels we would need to talk to during the FBA process. (ie therapist, family members, day program employees, skills trainer, teacher, family friend, etc.)

    Once we receive all the items in Step 2, we will contact you with potential dates for a first team meeting. Please be aware, there may be a waitlist. Clients are placed on the waitlist once all documents are received,

    Please note: We start services once all of the documents are received. If there is a waitlist at that time, we will begin services based on the order of first contact and severity of behaviors.

  • In order to do the best job we can for you, we will need any documents related to the challenging behaviors for the past 2 years. Please prepare the following documents and have them ready before the first team meeting. We will need copies of:

    • Psychological Evaluations

    • Behavior Support Plans

    • Incident Reports - related to the current challenging behaviors

    • Police Reports

    • CPS Reports

    • Other relevant documents

    Please note: All documents must be scanned separately and labeled to clearly identify what they are.