Seeking Disenfranchised and Displaced BCBAs.
Sadly, in the field of ABA, unethical business practices have become the new normal. Or at least maybe it feels that way to me because I’m so tied to the topic of ABA Ethics through my training company, Special Learning and the work that Dr. Jon Bailey does with his ABA Ethics Hotline (https://lnkd.in/fwFEA8e) that this has become MY reality.
But I don’t think that’s really true. I genuinely believe that the field of ABA is now littered with thousands of BCBAs who have been put through the rringer with unfortunate experiences of working for too many unethical ABA organizations with billable hours / profits as their primary success metric. This, of course resulting in the predictable consequence that the meaning and fulfillment that used to come from being THE person capable of transforming people’s lives so that they can achieve greater levels of independence has been overshadowed with the stress and disappointment of the realities of what it means to be a BCBA in today’s environment.
BUT WHAT IF WE CAN CHANGE THAT???
Ethical owners of independent ABA Organizations, many led by BCBAs, have also been put through the ringer because they are forced to compete with unethical ABA organizations who will do and say whatever they need to say to recruit unsuspecting RBTs and BCBAs. Of course turnover – very high turnover – is the consequence of deceptive hiring practices, but at the end of the day, when only billable hours – not client outcomes and certainly not employee satisfaction – is the primary metric AND there is never any shortage of clients desperate for those hours, turnover is an acceptable “cost of doing business.” Regardless of the direct and collateral damage caused.
I envision a new world. A world in which a group (perhaps small) of ethical BTs, RBTs and BCBAs and ethical ABA Organizations (perhaps even a smaller group) come to a common meeting of the minds and decide to support each other’s endeavors. To improve the lives of clients for whom ethical and effective application of QUALITY Applied Behavior Analysis intervention can achieve miraculous change to transform lives.
If you are a BCBA who has ever wondered what it would be like to work for an ethical ABA Organization whose mission is to simply help people achieve better lives and you are willing to support this company with your loyalty for as long as the company stays true to its mission, please contact me.
We have been interviewing owners of ethical ABA organizations with stories of success that deserve to be replicated. They need committed, ethical, experienced (and perhaps a bit bruised) BCBAs and RBTs who are looking for a place to call home. Commitment to ethics is the common ground we seek; as long as the definition of ethical practice translates to highest quality client outcomes we can realistically provide using available means.
Please email kchung@special-learning.com.
(1) CV
(2) Cover Letter
