| Abbreviation | BACB |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1998 |
| Type | 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation |
| Headquarters | Littleton, Colorado, United States |
Region served | International |
Official language | English |
Chief executive officer | James E. Carr |
| Website | www |
The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) is a nonprofit professional credentialing organization that certifies practitioners of applied behavior analysis (ABA). It was founded in 1998 as a Florida nonprofit corporation and later registered as a 501(c)(3) organization, with the stated mission of protecting consumers of behavior analytic services by establishing and disseminating professional standards of practice. [1] [2] [3]
The BACB administers three main credentials: Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA), and Registered Behavior Technician (RBT), along with the BCBA-D designation for doctoral level certificants. [4] [5] Its certifications are widely referenced in state licensure laws, Medicaid policies, and insurance rules in the United States, and are used internationally in autism services and other behavioral health settings. [6] [7]
The BACB was incorporated as a Florida nonprofit corporation on 5 May 1998 by Gerald L. Shook to create a formal credentialing system for applied behavior analysts. [8] It emerged from earlier state level certification systems and from efforts within the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) and other groups to develop national standards for education, supervised experience, and examination in behavior analysis. [9] [10]
Early BACB activity focused on two certification levels: BCBA (graduate level) and BCaBA (bachelor level associate). [9] Examinations were first administered in multiple cities in the United States and in Cambridge, England in 2002. [11] Over time, the BACB expanded eligibility pathways, established approved course sequences, and created an ethics enforcement system that included a published disciplinary registry. [8] [12]
In 2014 the BACB launched the Registered Behavior Technician credential for paraprofessional direct service staff. [13] Academic and trade sources describe the RBT as a major workforce initiative that has contributed to rapid growth in the number of credentialed staff delivering ABA services, particularly in autism therapy markets. [5] [14]
The BACB has periodically updated its requirements in response to research, stakeholder feedback, and international developments. Newsletters and requirement tables describe changes to coursework expiration rules, reinstatement periods, supervised fieldwork structures, and examination eligibility taking effect between 2022 and 2027. [15] [16]
In December 2019 the BACB announced that, beginning 1 January 2023, it would stop accepting new certification applications from individuals residing outside the United States and Canada, citing differences in educational, regulatory, and economic systems. [17] Coverage in professional news outlets and blogs noted that this international change affected behavior analysts in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, and prompted local efforts to develop regional credentialing and regulatory structures. [18] [19]
The BACB describes itself as a nonprofit corporation with federal tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code. [2] [20] State sunrise reports and training materials from provider organizations similarly identify the BACB as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation created to meet professional credentialing needs in behavior analysis. [21] [22]
The BACB's BCBA and BCaBA credentialing programs are accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), the accreditation body of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence, and its RBT program obtained NCCA accreditation in 2017. [9] [23] [24] A 2025 BACB fact sheet states that the BCBA, BCaBA, and RBT certification programs are accredited by NCCA and describes NCCA as the body that accredits certification programs meeting credentialing industry standards. [25]
Presentations for ABAI and other audiences have highlighted NCCA accreditation as requiring systematic psychometric procedures for establishing and revising BACB standards, including job task analyses, practice analyses, and periodic exam updates. [26] Overviews of certification accreditation describe NCCA accreditation as a marker of adherence to best practices in credentialing and recertification. [27]
The BACB currently offers three main credentials and one doctoral designation. [4] [2]
BACB handbooks describe these credentials as forming a tiered system in which BCBA certificants supervise BCaBAs, RBTs, and other implementers, and assume responsibility for clinical decision making and ethical compliance. [4] [12] Academic reviews have compared BACB standards to those of other health professions, concluding that entry requirements and continuing education obligations are broadly consistent with credentialing norms in behavioral health fields. [30]
BACB examinations are described as standardized, computer based tests developed through job task analyses, psychometric review, and periodic validation studies. [4] [10] Examination pass rates by university training program are published annually to inform prospective candidates and training programs. [31]
The BACB maintains an online certificant registry to verify credentials and list reportable disciplinary actions. [32] Its Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts applies to BCBA and BCaBA certificants and describes core principles and standards in areas such as client welfare, supervision, research, public statements, and conflicts of interest. [12] The code is cited in state laws and rules that require licensees to follow BACB ethical standards or their successors. [33] [34]
Academic analyses describe BACB credentialing and ethics enforcement as central elements in the professionalization of behavior analysis. [8] [10] [35]
BACB credentials are widely used in state laws that regulate the practice of applied behavior analysis. Green and Johnston noted in 2009 that the BACB program was accredited by a national credentialing commission and that BACB credentials were already recognized in laws and regulations in several U.S. states, allowing BCBAs and BCaBAs to practice and obtain reimbursement under those laws. [6]
Many state statutes and administrative codes explicitly refer to the Behavior Analyst Certification Board or its successors when defining licensure requirements. For example:
Other states, such as Vermont and Maryland, incorporate BACB approved course sequences and certification dates into their licensure statutes for behavior analysts and related roles. [40] [41]
Licensure summaries for prospective students and practitioners commonly note that passing the BACB examination and holding BCBA certification is a primary or preferred pathway to licensure where laws are in place. [7] [42] A BACB maintained table lists U.S. jurisdictions that require licensure, the year of enactment, and links to licensure boards and laws. [43]
BACB certifications have been associated with rapid growth in the ABA workforce, particularly in autism services. Analyses of certificant data show steady increases in the number of BCBAs, BCaBAs, and RBTs across the 2010s and 2020s, especially in North America. [10] [3] A 2020 article on the RBT credential noted that the BACB created the RBT in 2014 and that tens of thousands of technicians had been certified within several years of launch. [13] Later workforce summaries reported more than 180,000 RBTs within a decade of the credential's introduction. [14]
Career guides and salary analyses describe RBTs as entry level roles in a growing sector, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics projections for behavioral health technician jobs of roughly 20 to 22 percent growth through 2030, higher than average for all occupations. [44] [45] BACB newsletters have highlighted job growth data and examination trends, framing the credentials as central to the development of a standardized behavior analytic workforce. [16] [46]
The BACB has pursued several legal actions related to exam security and intellectual property. In 2021 it filed suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Marta Pelaez Elvirez, alleging misappropriation of trade secrets under the Defend Trade Secrets Act related to BACB examination content, in a case brought jointly with testing vendor NCS Pearson (Pearson VUE). [47] [48] The court found the defendant liable for misappropriation of trade secrets and granted injunctive relief, describing BACB examination materials as proprietary trade secrets used in interstate commerce. [48]
The case and a related lawsuit against another defendant were discussed in ABA oriented online forums and newsletters as examples of credentialing bodies enforcing exam security in high stakes testing. [49]
In early 2025 the BACB decided to remove a stand-alone diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) content category from its coursework and continuing education requirements that are scheduled to take effect in 2027. A March 2025 BACB newsletter stated that the originally planned DEI continuing education category had been removed and that the ethics category had been expanded to "explicitly include content on cultural and contextual responsiveness". [50]
Behavioral Health Business reported on the change in March 2025, noting that the DEI category for continuing education had been removed as a separate requirement and quoting critics who argued that the decision risked weakening explicit attention to DEI in ABA training. [51] A CEU provider blog summarizing the new 2027 requirements similarly noted that the DEI category had been removed and reframed under ethics, and reported that the BACB cited legal and political concerns for U.S. licensees as part of its rationale. [52]
The decision prompted public responses from professional and advocacy groups. Black Applied Behavior Analysts (BABA) issued a statement expressing concern about the removal of a stand-alone DEI requirement and urging the BACB to reinstate and strengthen such content. [53] The Illinois Association for Behavior Analysis similarly published a board statement criticizing the removal of DEI from BACB coursework and CE requirements and encouraging members to continue engaging with DEI content beyond minimum certification standards. [54]
Commentary in professional blogs and social media posts debated the implications of the change, with some behavior analysts arguing that the rollback mirrored broader political pressures and others supporting the BACB's emphasis on core content domains while incorporating cultural responsiveness under ethics. [55] [56] [57]
Earlier critiques of the BACB have focused on topics such as access to certification for practitioners in low income regions, the impact of exam fees and English only exams, and the relationship between private certification and public regulation. Commentaries for families and consumers have also raised concerns about how well disciplinary data are communicated and how promptly allegations of misconduct are handled, while still recognizing BACB certification as a dominant credential in ABA services. [6] [10] [58]