Publication details
Behavior Analyst in the Czech Republic
| Title in English | Behavior analyst in the Czech Republic |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The Czech Republic became the first country in Europe to recognize the profession of behavior analyst within its legal system. Even though applied behavior analysis had been virtually unknown in the country as a scientific and practical field before 2016, it spread quickly after coordinated efforts of parents, practitioners, politicians and scientists from the Czech Republic and abroad were solidified. The licensure for behavior analysts, assistant behavior analysts, and behavior technicians has been created within the system of allied health professions. The education and licensure system of Czech allied health professions is governed by the Act 96/2004 Coll., on the conditions of obtaining and recognizing qualifications for non-medical professions and activities related to the provision of health care. This act lists the allied health professions recognized in the country, for example nurses, clinical psychologists, clinical speech therapists, physiotherapists, and optometrists. Beginning September 2017 behavior analysts, assistant behavior analysts and behavior technicians were added to the list. The act specifies the minimum levels of education and supervised pre-clinical experience for each profession as well as the scope of professional practice. After the law was enacted in 2017, the Ministry of Health published several regulations which govern the licensure procedure and further specify the operations and activities behavior analysts are authorized to perform. These new professions have been developed in coordination with the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) requirements for verified course sequence along with standards for supervised practice. The BCBA and BCaBA exams and certification became an internal part of the national licensing process. All future Czech behavior analysts and assistant behavior analysts are required to pass the BCBA or BCaBA examination before they can apply for the licensure within the national system. This article presents the facilitators and barriers in the process of developing the licensure process. It also describes how challenging it can be to follow and interconnect national legislation and the BACB requirements and standards. |
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