One of the most exciting and also scary trends for me as a practicing Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) is the rapid growth of certified Behavior Analysts. I have checked the BACB website many times over the past couple of years to analyze the trend of BCBA certificants. At first I felt so proud that so many people were recognizing the amazing work of behavior analysts and wanting to join us, but as the years passed and we continued to see even more growth, I became worried. I was shocked when I visited the BACB website recently to find that just about 20% of all BCBAs have been certified in the past year (BACB, n.d.). This means that 1 in every 5 BCBAs are in their first year of clinical practice.
The Formation of the BACB and Impact
In my first year as a practicing behavior analyst, I made many mistakes – we all do. Thankfully mine were all small mistakes and spoke to my lack of practice designing efficient and efficacious teaching procedures. However, I was lucky in that I was working around other Behavior Analysts who could oversee my work and who I could consult with when I wanted a second set of eyes on a behavior or a protocol.
I look back at the start of my career in behavior analysis, when I worked as a behavior therapist, and remember that my first consultant had been in the field for over 20 years and had studied with some of the greats in our field, but she was not a BCBA. At that time, many people who had been providing behavioral consultation were learning the importance of obtaining or were in the process of obtaining the credential offered by the newly formed BACB. Most people practicing behavior analysis were private contractors, working for families in need of services and the profession was not widely recognized by public schools or other treatment facilities. This left many consultants to recruit therapists and train them on the job, often in children’s homes or community settings. There was little to no regulatory oversight of these services and it was hard for families to find out who to trust and how to hold their consultants and staff accountable.
The formation of the BACB, and later state licensure, meant that we would now have a minimum requirement of competency and a recognized credential for families and overseeing agencies to trust. This was so exciting and meant that we could grow as a field and meant that we could begin to be seen as valued professionals on the team.
Infrastructure
While passing the exam is a very exciting and difficult feat, it is only the beginning. With 1 in every 5 BCBAs at this early point in their career, as a field we must ensure we are growing and building infrastructure and systems to support these new professionals. This is often made difficult by our funding sources who may not understand or want to financially support the administrative needs required to ensure competent and quality services are being delivered. Our new BCBAs need ongoing oversight and consultation; they need access to ongoing education, and need mentors to teach them the ins and outs of providing effective ABA services. Without the correct infrastructure will we implode? Can we maintain high quality services and continue to grow a positive reputation with such a “young” workforce? While these new professionals are gaining experience in case management, staff management, programming, and behavior assessment, there continue to be advances in the field that they must keep up with. With such a new science, it is amazing how quickly the field and our practice changes.
With this growth, we also have opportunity. The BACB continues to alter the requirements for gaining the credential and for maintaining the credential in response to the needs of consumers and certifiants. Many organizations have already responded to the needs of the field and have built in administrative support and senior clinicians that are employed simply to support a team of behavior analysts. We have an opportunity to build the correct systems to ensure proper oversight. The growth of the field also provides us an opportunity to provide more and more opportunities for advancement. For BCBAs who have been in the field for 5 or 10 years, we are now able to provide them with advanced positions. Not only does this allow for career and financial growth, but also helps in the prevention of burnout.
Recommendations
While I don’t have the answers to this I will propose some best practices and things to think about given the rapid growth of our field:
- New behavior analysts should be overseen by senior Behavior Analysts. It is no longer the case that newly minted BCBAs can practice on their own. New BCBAs should be seeking employment somewhere that they can be overseen by a BCBA with 5+ years of experience with the population they are serving.
- Organizations should develop a supportive structure to mentor and train new BCBAs (DiGennaro-Reed, F. & Henley, A., 2015). New BCBAs should look for employment in organizations that have multiple levels of oversight by senior BCBAs.
- Newer BCBAs should feel confident referring to senior practitioners and scientists when describing treatment options with clients. This indicates to our clients that we have consulted with our team of professionals prior to making treatment recommendations.
- Continuing education and conference attendance is critical. It is a requirement of BCBAs to earn continuing education units, however, this can be done in a number of ways. I believe it is especially beneficial for newer BCBAs to be in a community of behavior analysts. So, attending in-person conferences (COVID-safe of course) should be prioritized.
This is such an exciting time of growth in our field and I believe that we have challenges, but can also continue to rise to the challenge of scaling our profession as we have in the past.
Cheers,
Chrissy
References
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (n.d). BACB certificant data. Retrieved from https://www.bacb.com/BACB-certificant-data.
Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (n.d). The BACB: What It is, What It Does, and Why. Retrieved from https://www.bacb.com/the-bacb-what-it-is-what-it-does-and-why/.
DiGennaro-Reed, F., & Henley, A. (2015). A survey of staff training and performance management practices: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 8, (1), 16-26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-015-0044-5