What APBA Members Should Know About Proposals for Licensing ABA Professionals
Because of a recent initiative by the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) promoting the licensure of ABA practitioners, the issue of licensure and how it contrasts with the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) certification program is receiving increasing attention. ABAI recently sent a working draft of a model licensing act to all its members with an email message that included a comparison of its act and the BACB® Model Licensing Act.
The Association of Professional Behavior Analysts (APBA) is concerned that ABAI’s well intentioned but premature approach to licensure could be damaging to the practice of ABA and, by extension, consumers of ABA services and the entire field of behavior analysis. The APBA Board of Directors believes that at this point in the field’s development, the interests of ABA practitioners, consumers, and the larger field will be best served if alternatives to licensure are pursued before efforts to establish licensure laws are initiated. APBA recently summarized its views on licensure of ABA practitioners in a position statement, (Click Here).
It is APBA’s conviction that although licensure may someday be an appropriate general approach to credentialing ABA practitioners, it is unwise at this time to promote efforts to establish licensure laws in every state. In most states, behavior analysts lack the critical mass, organization, public policy expertise, political power, and resources to succeed in the unpredictable legislative arena. In the face of opposition from other professional groups with competing interests, attempts to obtain licensure are likely to fail to achieve desired objectives, leaving ABA practitioners unable to practice unless they are supervised by licensed professionals from other disciplines and unable to qualify for third-party payment for their services. Unsuccessful licensure initiatives are also likely to make it difficult for the field to gain recognition in laws and regulations in the future. Even if licensure laws are adopted, state regulatory boards that include few, if any, behavior analysts may determine the requirements for licensure and oversee the practice of licensed behavior analysts.
For these and other reasons, APBA recommends securing broader recognition of the BACB® credentials in laws, regulations, and the policies of funding sources before licensure is pursued. If special circumstances suggest that licensure may be desirable in a state, and if the resources and strategies necessary for legislative success are in place, then APBA recommends basing state licensure laws on the BACB’s Model Licensing Act (Click Here).
APBA has received many questions from members about the recent ABAI e-mail promoting its licensure initiative. To help ABA practitioners understand the issues, we have prepared the following table comparing features of the BACB® and ABAI model licensing acts and analyzing their implications for practitioners and consumers. The comparison is based on the BACB® Act for Licensing Behavior Analysts and accompanying introduction dated February 2009, and the ABAI Working Draft Model Licensing Act dated March 16, 2009. We encourage you to consider how these two different approaches to licensing might affect the field, employers, the consumers you serve, and your own career. As you examine these details, it might be useful to consider the following questions.
NINE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT LICENSING PROPOSALS
April 6, 2009, Edited May 4, 2009
- Would I qualify for licensure under either of the two model acts?
- Is it better for the field to have educational curricula specified in terms of numbers of course hours on particular topics, or to have curricula left to the discretion of individual academic programs?
- What would be the effects of greatly reducing the number of academic training programs whose graduates qualify for licensure?
- What would be the effects of limiting practicum supervision to individuals who are licensed, BCBA-Ds, or who have been practicing behavior analysis for five years?
- 5Should passing an exam be required for individuals to become licensed?
- Should acceptable continuing education be approved by the BACB® across all states and countries, or separately by each state or country licensing board?
- Should ethical codes and their enforcement be uniform across all states and countries, or determined by individual state or country licensing boards?
- What might be the effect on me if I became licensed in one state and later moved to a different state?
- What would be the impact of the BACB® model licensing act, vs. the ABAI model licensing act, on the practice of ABA, employers, consumers, funding sources, university faculty, and the careers of ABA professionals?
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