Jennifer Fitzpatrick, Christina Imgrund, and Elizabeth Gamil continue to address the standards of care through documentation in the second volume of The Essential Steps series- The Essential Second Step: Standardizing Assessments and Treatment Plans. This series aims to address the core challenges of Applied Behavior Analysis, this time putting the spotlight on how standardized documentation and procedures can improve the quality of assessments and treatment plans, utilizing decision-making algorithms and session notes to guide providers and monitor quality.

Currently, many ABA professionals enter the field with limited training on assessments and treatment planning, the expectation being that real-time experience is the greatest teacher of these processes. However, this methodology results in clinical mistakes, inappropriate assessments, misaligned goals, interventions that lack evidence-basis, and a lack of individualized services. This volume attempts to remedy this oversight by providing decision trees, templates, and guidance on how to appropriately select and implement assessments for individual patients, as well as how to design and implement treatment plans that align with assessment results, demonstrate medical necessity, and individualize high quality care.

Providers are given a roadmap for how to complete every step of the pre-therapy process, blending their clinical judgement and individual patient needs with standardized processes to ensure evidence-based practice. Like its predecessor, this manual marries standardized procedures and clinical practice with standardized session notes, using them as a tool for guiding implementation and monitoring quality of care. Emphasis is placed on using these tools for staff development; ABA professionals are equipped with tactics that guarantee not only comprehension but also proficient implementation of clinical practices, assessments, and treatment plans via documentation. This concentrated approach fortifies a commitment to ethical, efficient, and enduring practices within the ABA realm.

At its core, The Essential Steps series functions as a guidebook and manual for both new and seasoned ABA professionals, providing tangible steps and templates for a commitment to evidence-based, best practice standards. Readers are urged to embark on a transformative journey to reshape ABA therapy and the pre-therapy process through clinical documentation, confronting challenges with these processes directly and paving the way a brighter future in the industry.