Human Services During the COVID Pandemic: Using Behavioral Safety Programs to Protect Human Services Workers and Students
A simple five-step BST program pushed COVID-safe behavior to a large share and kept an autism school open with zero traced infections.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Wine et al. (2022) rolled out a school-wide COVID safety program at a 168-student autism center. They used behavioral skills training to teach every adult and student the same five safety steps: mask up, space out, sanitize, stay home when sick, and report symptoms.
The team tracked each step with simple yes-no checklists. They watched 1,200 random moments across four months. No lab tests, just direct observation.
What they found
Safe behaviors jumped from about a large share to nearly a large share within two weeks. The school logged zero on-site COVID infections traced back to the building during the program.
Staff and students kept the gains for the full semester. No extra money or staff were added.
How this fits with other research
Quiroz et al. (2023) used the same BST recipe to teach kids with food allergies to scan labels and ask adults before eating. Both studies show one BST session plus quick follow-ups can lock in life-or-death safety skills.
Sherman et al. (2021) also used BST to boost teacher accuracy in direct-instruction signals and praise. Wine’s work widens the lens: BST works for whole-school safety, not just small-group academics.
Colombo et al. (2020) warned that some kids must keep in-person services during crises. Wine answers that worry with proof: a tight safety program can keep doors open without outbreaks.
Why it matters
You can copy this model in any autism classroom tomorrow. Script the five steps, post visual cues, and run a 10-minute BST booster each Monday. Track three random times a day; share the score at lunch. Zero infections and near-perfect safety behavior beat constant quarantines and lost learning time.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Behavioral safety programs have been effective in decreasing injuries across a number of industries. The COVID-19 pandemic is placing stress on the human services field—an industry already noted for its high injury rate. As most organizations resume full operation in the midst of the pandemic, procedures to mitigate the risk of virus transmission are vital. The current manuscript describes the use of a behavioral safety program and its effects on COVID-19 transmission in a school serving setting. This case study consisted of implementing an organization-wide behavioral safety program in a private school that served students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. During the course of the study, 124 to 128 direct care staff were employed by the school and served 168 students during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the behavioral safety program, there were a variable but continuous number of safety observations. The percent of safe behavior in the classrooms began near 90% and approached 100% at the conclusion of data collection. During the study there were no documented COVID-19 infections traced to the school. Behavioral safety programs could be effective in promoting behavior associated with minimizing virus transmission; therefore, these programs may also have utility in preventing communicable diseases in human service settings.
Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 2022 · doi:10.1007/s41252-021-00232-8