Thank you all so much for trusting us with your children, especially this year! All of the children have made amazing growth, and their resilience with the many changes this year is genuinely inspiring. They have worked hard, and truly deserve a relaxing break with their families - and so do our amazing staff! With the many extra requirements this year, I haven't heard a single complaint, I have just seen our teams pull together and get things done. We are all looking forward to the new year and wish a very happy and healthy holiday season for our families!

We will see you all on Monday, January 4th!

Again, if your family is planning any travel during the holiday break, we ask that you review the CDC's recommendations on travel and potential quarantine after travel. Those recommendations can be found here: CDC Travel Recommendations.

Please let your BCBA know if your family is traveling, and when you plan to return, so that we can make staffing arrangements.

With the new year, many families may have entirely new insurance coverage - or just new information for your current coverage. Please be sure to let us know of any changes - we will need a copy of any new insurance cards. You can let us know when we screen your child and we can take the card inside and scan it and bring it back, or you can take a picture or a scan yourself and email it to your BCBA or to Katie Olari, kolari@sc-centers.com.

Remember that many co-pays and deductibles may renew in January as well. We are happy to work with families on payment plans if needed.

Please reach out if you have any insurance or payment plan questions. You can contact Tracy Griffith, our Billing Specialist, at tgriffith@sc-centers.com.

We are planning our regular 3 month therapist switch in January. For some families, your child will be working with someone you may not have worked with before, for some, it will be a return to an old friend. Please keep in mind that switching therapists is important for your children for several reasons:

• It allows generalization of skills, to ensure that your child can respond to any teacher
• It helps to reinforce flexibility and a positive response to changes
• It gives your child a fun and different perspective, with a new person to play with

As parents, the most important thing you can do is say positive things about your child's therapist in front of him - "Look - it's Jill! You're going to have so much fun with her this morning!" or "It sounds like you had a great time with Sue this afternoon!"

This is an important step in preparing your child for school and other settings, and we thank you for your support.

We had a great time at our holiday parties today! The kids made some reindeer food (check your backpack so you can scatter that on Christmas Eve!), they made candy cane reindeer, reindeer masks, they played Pin the Nose on the Reindeer, and they decorated their cookies! It was a great way to end the year.

With the New Year comes a change in Brighton. Our beloved Lead Therapist/Behavior Specialist, Sarah L, will be moving on. She has accepted a new position but we will miss her very much. Sarah has been an important part of our team and has worked closely with our Brighton families this year. We wish her the best!

Please remember in January when you return to send all the winter gear daily! This includes mittens or gloves, a hat if your child's coat doesn't have a hood, and boots and snow pants when there's snow on the ground. You can put these items in a resuable shopping bag or even a plastic bag and we sill send them back and forth daily. We will plan to continue to go outside unless the wind chill is below 20 degrees, and in both locations, children have to walk outside to get to the motor room. We will remind you again in January, but please keep this in mind.

Typically, we use several pieces of information to determine whether to close due to inclement weather. Some important points to keep in mind:

• Because our families transport their own children (no one rides a bus), we may not close due to cold temperatures.
• We do not automatically follow local school closings, as our families live in multiple districts.
• A decision to close will be made by 6:00AM and communicated to families directly via Remind. It will also be posted on our Facebook page.
• Strive Centers will close when driving conditions in and around Brighton or Burton are noted to be dangerous.

We often review local school closings to assist in the decision making process, but with many schools closed for face to face instruction, that will look different this year. We will do our best to base a decision to close on the road conditions near our centers, and we ask that parents be understanding of the challenge of making these decisions. We know that parents and staff drive from a variety of communities, so we expect that families will make their own decision if the roads in their immediate area are dangerous. We will make every effort to be open as many days as possible this winter.

If you choose to keep your child home due to winter conditions near your home, please contact us as early as possible, so that we can make staffing adjustments. Keep in mind that each child requires one therapist, so if you're not able to make it in, that can eliminate the need for a therapist to drive in inclement weather as well.

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We have several families who have decided to keep their children home right now due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19. We will work with all our families to ensure your child has access to as much therapy as possible, and we want our families to return when they feel it is safe to do so.

Please keep in mind that if you should choose to keep your child home for an extended period due to the pandemic, the following requirements will still apply (as they did in June for those who didn't return on our first day back):

• If a family has chosen to keep their child home, we ask that they communicate with their BCBA frequently regarding their plans to return and provide a minimum of 30 days' notice of the date they would like to return. If we are able to accommodate your return sooner, we will do so, but 30 days will allow us time to hire and train staff if required and to update your child's treatment plan and obtain insurance approval.
• Should either of our locations have an active waitlist at the time a family is asking to return, we will work to move the returning family to the first spot on the waitlist, rather than serving new families first.
• Any family who was receiving services in person will be eligible to continue telehealth services for parent support, as long as it is approved by your insurance company. Simply communicate with your BCBA regarding your needs and we will work with you.

We look forward to having all our families back in the clinic every day, and we support each of you in making the best decision for your family. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

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Email: info@sc-centers.com
Website: www.sc-centers.com
Location: Burton and Brighton, MI
Phone: 810-344-8082