BCBA BriefLicensure · Policy · RolesIssue 1
18 September 2026
5 min read

The State of the Field

Every state that licenses behaviour analysts, when it started, and who regulates it — hover the map for the statistics.

Licensing since2024–20262021–20232017–20202013–20162009–2012not licensed
01

The lead

The route into certification quietly changed underneath everyone

ABAI's Verified Course Sequence system — the mechanism a generation of BCBAs used to prove their coursework counted — ended on 31 December 2025. From January 2026, Pathway 2 requires direct coursework attestation instead: a department chair, dean, or BCBA-certified faculty member formally confirming the coursework met the BACB's standard.

If you are already certified this changes nothing for you. If you supervise, mentor, or employ anyone still working toward certification, it changes their paperwork and their timeline — and most of them have not heard about it yet.

BACB — BCBA requirements
02

BCBA pain points

58%have considered leaving

More than half have thought about walking away

Fifty-eight percent of BCBAs report having considered leaving the profession, and a third describe extreme stress that has persisted for two years or more. This is not a wobble in one bad month — it is a sustained condition across the field.

Breaking News ABA
6–10sustainable caseload

The number above which people start leaving

Research puts the sustainable caseload at roughly six to ten active clients. Above ten, turnover risk climbs and clinical quality falls — and more than 70% of BCBAs carrying eleven or more report working beyond forty hours a week to keep up.

Work settings compared
30–70%turnover, by setting

It is the paperwork, not the children

Burnout tracks to caseload size and documentation demand rather than the clinical work itself. Clinic and Medicaid-heavy settings carry the heaviest administrative load; school and hospital roles tend to come with more operational support behind the clinician.

Provider quality-of-life study
32%certified since 2021

A field losing experienced clinicians and replacing them with new ones

Roughly a third of practising BCBAs earned the credential within the last five years. The profession is simultaneously shedding seasoned practitioners to burnout and rebuilding on people who have not yet carried a complex caseload — while mid-career pay has flattened.

Breaking News ABA

These are national findings, not state-by-state sentiment. We are not going to invent what BCBAs in your state are saying — so tell us. Reply with what is hardest where you practise, and the state-level version of this section gets built out of real answers, issue by issue.

03

Also worth knowing

Policy

The wait between diagnosis and treatment is now an argument

The lag families face before therapy begins has moved from clinical frustration to policy debate, with proposals circulating on how to close it.

Behavioral Health Business
Reimbursement

Caps shape authorisations, authorisations shape caseloads

Missouri’s Medicaid programme covers ABA for eligible children and teens under 21 where medically necessary, with an inflation-adjusted annual benefit cap of roughly $57,311 for 2025–26.

Rate analysis
Licensure

Certification is not permission

Most states want their own license on top of BACB certification. Twenty-one percent of our network already holds more than one, which is exactly what makes them portable when a good role opens two states over.

BACB licensure list
04

Open roles

RightWay ABA · New Jersey

Two BCBAs — Hudson & Bergen

Woman-owned and BCBA-led. Caseload capped at 10–15, unlimited PTO, hybrid supervision.

$80k–$120k
See the role
Arms Wide Open ABA · Missouri

BCBA — Kansas City

Full-time or part-time, in-person and hybrid. Missouri LBA required. Clinical autonomy.

$90k–$110k
See the role

And 14 more open on the Matchly board this week — every one a live search, not an aggregator listing.

BCBAPositivity PlayChicago, IL$62–$70/hrBCBA — Part-time to Full-timeBedrock ABADenver, CO$80k–$90kClinical Director — New Michigan ClinicAutism AcademyMichigan$95k–$100kBCBA — Greater Savannah & Marietta, GAApricott ABASavannah & Marietta, GA$85k–$100kBCBA — Greater Charleston, SCApricott ABAGreater Charleston, SC$70k–$85kBCBA — Charlotte & Raleigh, NCApricott ABACharlotte & Raleigh, NC$85k–$105kBCBA — Little Rock ClinicCross River ABALittle Rock, AR$75k–$90kBCBADivine Steps TherapyBaltimore, MD$100k–$116kBCBA — Maryland (Multiple Positions)Divine Steps TherapyMaryland$110k–$110kBCBA — New Jersey (Sports-Based ABA)Unlimited ABA Sports LLCNew Jersey$90k–$100kClinic Director / BCBACELECTS Education, LLCFlorence, SC$86k–$108kBoard Certified Behavior AnalystNew Dawn ABASt. Louis, MO$70k–$95kBoard Certified Behavior AnalystLifeline ABANorthern New Jersey$90k–$100kBCBA — St. Louis MetroBright Arch ABASt. Louis, MO$85k–$90k

See the full board →

What is happening in your state that we have missed?

This brief is only as good as what people tell us. Email danielle@matchlysolutions.net with what changed where you practise — licensure, reimbursement, a clinic opening or closing — and it goes in the next issue.