Big Money in ABA
Webinar Series

Private Equity interest in the field of behavior analysis continues to be as strong as ever, but what has changed is the dramatic increase in the number of ABA Organizations that are actively entertaining options to sell to a PE or PE-backed Organizations. As dissemination of stories about BCBAs who have successfully sold their business to PE or PE-backed ABA organizations for tens and hundreds of million dollars has become widespread, with increasing frequency, it’s no wonder that the “inventory” of ABA organizations prospects has increased exponentially.

Although some initial data point strongly to the damage that PE involvement is causing the field of behavior analysis – as measured by client satisfaction and client outcomes, frequency of severe ethics violations, including billing fraud, as reported by BCBAs and RBTs – in order to make final conclusions, we need more data.

Behavior Analysts are taught to make decisions based upon data. Although this is not widely practiced outside running ABA programs, in matters involving significant outcomes – good or bad – we need to go back to the basics.

Data-based decision-making is the foundation of ABA, but macro-level data collection on the impact of BIG Money investments has not been done systematically. As this is an area that affects the entire field of behavior analysis – BCBAs and RBTs who provide ABA services, those clients who receive ABA services, and ultimately the science of behavior analysis – we all bear the responsibility of collecting and sharing data so that we can make informed decisions.

It is with this in mind that we have started to create resources for independent ABA owners. Our goal is to help independent ABA organizations make informed, data-driven decisions. We ask for your support as we continue down this path.