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; the precise mechanics of what qualifies are defined in the BACB's fieldwork documentation, so confirm them in the current Handbook with your supervisor. As a working rule, a qualifying contact is a deliberate, scheduled interaction with enough depth to meaningfully contribute to your development: 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. What goes away is the separate monthly count of individual interactions.
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
-
A case consultation reviewing your clinical decision-making
-
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.
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.