Article archive / October 1, 2014
Originally published: . Volume 5, No. 14. Source pages: 5.
In March 2014 the Louisiana Behavior Analyst Board, Chaired by Emily Bellaci, M.A., wrote to the Louisiana Ethics Administration asking for their opinion about accepting donations and gifts.
Bellaci wrote, “The LBAB is a self-funded Board and receives no money from the general fund. The Board has licensed a very small number of licensees compared to other health occupation regulatory Boards. Therefore the LBAB requests an Ethic’s Opinion seeking ethical clarification on the Board’s ability to accept private and public donations, grants, and gifts of money.”
She wrote that the Applied Behavior Analysis licensing act, Act 351, notes that the board may “Accept grants, donations, or gifts of money or services from public or private individuals or organizations or from any other sources to be utilized for the purposes of the Board.”
She gave examples for consideration, which included a $5,000 donation from the Louisiana Behavior Analyst Association that was made as a “start-up donation.” Bellaci questioned whether this should be considered a donation, gift, or loan, and how should it be reported. She said that future donations may occur, and asked, “Could this present an issue since the advocacy organization and Board may have different legislative agendas or different positions…?”
She also asked about how grants and donations should be reported and whether or not there is a dollar limit. She presented hypothetical situations, such as one where a private donation is received from a family that contracts for services with a Licensed Behavior Analyst, and then six months later files a complaint with the board about the practitioner.
The Ethics Board concluded that since the questions posed do not relate to issues under its jurisdiction, it declined to give an advisory opinion.
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