ABA Home, School and Community Goal Alignment Map for Families

Start with one family-stated priority. Record only the current documents and statements you can identify. Leave a field open when information is missing. The finished map should show where another conversation is needed, not create an artificial agreement.

Use a new copy for a different priority or after a formal plan changes. A dated update preserves which version each participant was using.

Families and Caregivers / School and Whole-Child Care Coordination.

The BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts addresses client and stakeholder involvement, collaboration across professions, confidentiality, consent and documentation within the code's scope. Those standards support careful coordination. They do not merge an ABA treatment plan with an IEP, medical recommendation or community program.

Important boundary: This family-owned map cannot create, revise or approve an ABA goal, IEP goal, medical recommendation or community rule. It cannot authorize information sharing, determine educational benefit or medical necessity, prescribe the same procedure across settings, prove that a skill generalized, assign causation or decide that a disagreement is resolved. Each responsible team keeps its own decision authority and current process.

Choose one family priority and a review window

Use the family's words before copying professional goal language. “Mateo can ask for a break before leaving a busy activity” is easier to compare across settings than “increase functional communication,” which may mean different things to different teams.

Starting pointFamily entryLearner and review periodYour entry: __________.Family-stated priorityYour entry: __________.Why this matters in everyday lifeYour entry: __________.Learner's stated preference, assent, dissent or communicationYour entry: __________.Places or routines the family wants to compareYour entry: __________.Current documents available, with datesYour entry: __________.People the family hopes to consultYour entry: __________.Known limits on sharing informationYour entry: __________.

Use one priority. Date every source. Keep the learner's voice visible. Name missing documents. Record sharing limits before coordination begins.

The CMS person-centered care overview describes care that responds to goals, values and preferences through collaborative planning. It supports starting with what matters to the person. The overview does not decide the content of an ABA plan, IEP or other formal program.

Keep each goal in its own row

Copy formal wording exactly enough to identify the document and date. A family priority can be related to a formal goal without being the formal goal. A medical recommendation may inform a conversation without becoming an ABA or school directive.

Use the ABA goal alignment worksheet as an index to the current sources, never as a replacement for them. If two documents use similar words, copy both versions and identify who can explain each one.

Setting or planExact goal, expectation or prioritySource and dateWho owns the formal decisionHow success is defined thereStatus or next reviewFamily or home priorityFamily entry, unless another formal decision is namedABA treatment planIEP, 504 plan or other school planMedical or allied-health recommendationCommunity program or activityOther setting

Copy the source wording. Name the decision owner. Preserve different success definitions. Mark drafts as drafts. Record dates and versions. Leave unknowns open.

The U.S. Department of Education's IDEA IEP Team regulation identifies parents as IEP Team members and describes other required and permitted participants. Those rules concern IEP Team composition under IDEA. An entry in this map does not place an ABA provider on the IEP Team, excuse a required member, create consent or change an IEP.

Compare the conditions around each goal

Two goals can use the same word while relying on different cues, people, materials, settings or definitions. Compare conditions before concluding that the goals align.

SettingRoutine or situationCue or opportunitySupport or material usedExpected responseWhat is observed or recordedWhat should not be assumedHomeABA sessionSchoolCommunity activityOther

Describe the actual routine. Name supports. Keep observation separate from interpretation. Do not label one setting's data as another setting's result. Avoid assuming that different methods are a conflict or that matching methods are always appropriate.

A separate generalization observation log can record what a family observed across people, materials or places. This map has a different job: it compares how each setting defines and supports a related priority before anyone claims agreement or transfer.

Record information-sharing status before sharing

Knowing that another team has useful information does not authorize disclosure on its own. Record what the family understands about the purpose, audience, scope and duration of any sharing. The responsible organization must use its current consent, privacy, education-record and other applicable processes.

Proposed informationFrom whomTo whomPurposeCurrent permission or authority statusMinimum information neededQuestion or next stepCurrent goal wordingProgress summary or dataSupport or communication methodSchedule or contact informationOther record

Name sender and recipient. State the purpose. Record the current status without guessing. Limit the proposed content. Route unanswered privacy questions. Recheck expired or changed permissions.

The BACB Ethics Code addresses confidential information and informed consent within its jurisdiction. School records, health records, provider records and family notes may follow different requirements. This worksheet is not a release form and should not be presented as one.

Mark alignment, difference and uncertainty separately

Alignment should be specific. “Everyone is working on communication” is too broad. A useful comparison states which part matches, which part differs and who needs to discuss the difference.

Comparison pointWhat appears alignedWhat differsWhat is still unknownDoes the difference create a problem now?Person who can answerFamily priority and ABA goalFamily priority and school goalABA and school definitionsSupports or promptingLearner choice, assent or break accessData or observation methodsCommunity expectations

Describe the matching element. Keep differences visible. Do not force consensus. Ask whether a difference matters in the current routine. Identify the decision owner.

The AHRQ SHARE Approach supports meaningful dialogue about options and what matters most to a person. Its shared-decision model is a health-care resource. Here it supports the conversation habit of comparing options and preferences, not a rule that all teams must reach one conclusion.

Prepare an answerable coordination request

Turn each unresolved point into a request that one person or team can answer. Avoid asking a school to approve an ABA-plan change or asking an ABA clinician to rewrite an IEP.

TopicFamily's question or requestCorrect person or teamInformation neededDesired response dateWhat remains unchanged while waitingGoal wordingDefinition of successSupport, cue or materialLearner preference or accessInformation sharingData or progress explanationReview or meeting date

Ask one owner. Specify the decision needed. Preserve current plans until the responsible process changes them. Record a reply date. Carry unresolved items forward.

The Department of Education's IDEA parent-participation regulation requires public agencies to take specified steps to support parent participation in IEP Team meetings, including notice and appropriate action to ensure understanding. The regulation does not make every care-coordination conversation an IEP meeting. Families should use the school's current IDEA and meeting processes for an actual IEP question.

Record decisions without rewriting the source plans

After a meeting or message exchange, record what each responsible person decided. If the family disagrees, preserve the disagreement and the next route. Do not edit copied formal goal wording to make the map look cleaner.

Follow-up fieldRecorded entryDate and participantsYour entry: __________.Question discussedYour entry: __________.Family understanding of the responseYour entry: __________.ABA decision, owner and sourceYour entry: __________.School decision, owner and sourceYour entry: __________.Other setting decision, owner and sourceYour entry: __________.Disagreement or unresolved pointYour entry: __________.Action owner and due dateYour entry: __________.Document that may need formal revisionYour entry: __________.Next alignment reviewYour entry: __________.

Attribute each decision. Link it to the responsible source. Keep disagreement visible. Record the formal revision route. Use a new version after a plan changes.

The Department of Education's IDEA parents and families page explains that an IEP is developed, reviewed and revised under the IDEA process and based on the individual child's needs. The map can help a family prepare questions. It cannot replace that process or determine an educational program.

Fictional example: asking for a break in busy activities

This example is fictional and shows how to keep related goals separate.

FieldFictional entryFamily priorityElena wants Mateo to have a reliable way to ask for a break before leaving a busy activity. Mateo uses a spoken word and a break card.ABA rowHarbor ABA Services has a dated treatment-plan goal about requesting a break during selected routines. The BCBA owns any formal treatment-plan change.School rowNorth River Elementary's current IEP uses different wording about communicating needs during classroom activities. The IEP Team owns any IEP revision.Community rowLakeside Recreation Club allows Mateo to show the break card to a staff member, but it has no formal treatment goal.DifferenceABA records prompted and independent requests. The school reports use of the classroom communication system. The family does not treat those measures as interchangeable.Sharing statusElena has asked each organization what current permission is needed before any record is exchanged. The map is not used as authorization.RequestElena asks the BCBA and school contact to explain whether the same break card can be recognized in both settings while each plan keeps its own goal and decision process.Follow-upThe school question is scheduled for the next IEP discussion. The ABA clinician will review the family request. No plan change or skill generalization is recorded yet.

The example uses no real learner, family, provider, school or program. It cannot show that one method is clinically or educationally appropriate. It also cannot authorize record sharing or establish that a skill generalized. Real decisions require current person-specific review by the responsible parties.