Supervision Contact
A scheduled interaction between a trainee and their qualified supervisor that counts toward meeting minimum supervision contact requirements. Under 2022 standards, a minimum number of contacts per month is required.
Definition
A supervision contact is any scheduled, meaningful interaction between you and your qualified supervisor that is documented as part of your fieldwork experience. Under the 2022 standards, the BACB requires a minimum number of these contacts each month: four per month for supervised fieldwork and six per month for concentrated fieldwork. Each contact must involve substantive discussion about your clinical work, professional development, or fieldwork progress.
Not every conversation with your supervisor counts as a contact. Casual hallway check-ins, quick text messages, or brief administrative exchanges typically do not meet the threshold. A qualifying contact should be a deliberate, scheduled interaction with enough depth to meaningfully contribute to your development. This includes supervision meetings, observation debriefs, case consultations, and structured feedback sessions.
One of the most significant changes in the 2027 standards is the complete elimination of the contact requirement. Under the new rules, there is no minimum number of contacts per month. This does not mean supervision is less important — the supervision percentage and observation requirements remain. It simply removes the administrative burden of counting individual interactions, allowing supervisors and trainees to focus on the quality of supervision rather than hitting a numerical target.
Why This Matters
Supervision contacts ensure that you are meeting with your supervisor regularly enough to receive meaningful feedback. Missing contacts in a month can result in a compliance failure for that period.
Examples
- A scheduled 30-minute check-in with your supervisor (counts as 1 contact)
- An observation session where your supervisor watches you work with a client
- A feedback meeting reviewing your data collection from the week
How ABA Fieldwork Tracker handles this
ABA Fieldwork Tracker tracks every supervision session, observation, and contact automatically. Your supervision dashboard shows compliance status in real time so you and your supervisor always know where you stand.
Track your fieldwork automatically
ABA Fieldwork Tracker validates every hour for your specific pathway in real time. Free for early users.
Register for FreePathway Applicability
Note: 2022: 4-6 contacts/month required. 2027: contact requirement eliminated.
See full requirements:
Know the terms. Now automate the tracking.
Understanding BACB requirements is the first step. ABA Fieldwork Tracker handles the rest, validating every hour, every rule, every pathway, automatically.