PA IBHS training: what do I personally need, and by when?

Pennsylvania · IBHS · staff

From hired to independent, and every year after

Four steps for a BHT or BHT-ABA — and the number Pennsylvania’s own rules put on each one.

Same numbers on both tracks. The individual-services rule (BHT) is § 5240.71–.73; the ABA-services rule (BHT-ABA) is § 5240.81–.83. Where they differ, the chart says so.

Qualify — one of six routes

An RBT, BCaBA or BCAT certification; another NCCA- or ANSI-accredited behavior certification; a high-school diploma plus a 40-hour RBT training whose certificate names a BCBA or BCaBA as responsible trainer; or two years of experience (behavioral health for a BHT; ABA plus 40 hours of training for a BHT-ABA).

Clock Before your first day. No degree required on routes 5 and 6.

55 Pa. Code § 5240.71(d) · § 5240.81(g)

Before you work independently (new to BHT work)

30 hours of training on eight named topics — mandated reporting, crisis and de-escalation, behavior management, child development, serious emotional disturbance, ethics and confidentiality, first aid and universal precautions, psychotropic medications — plus 6 hours of onsite supervision while you deliver services.

Clock Before you are alone with a child. Skipped if you have done BHT work before.

55 Pa. Code § 5240.73(c) · § 5240.72(b)(2) · § 5240.82(c)(2)

Your first six months (new to BHT work)

24 more hours on eleven topics — documentation, systems of care, functional behavioral assessment, culture and language, family engagement and family systems, community resources, cross-systems work, communication and conflict resolution, IEP basics, restrictive procedures. College coursework can substitute where your transcript shows the topic.

Clock Within 6 months of starting

55 Pa. Code § 5240.73(d), (f)

Every year after that

20 hours of training tied to your job functions and your training plan (a BHT-ABA’s must relate to ABA). One hour of supervision a week at 37.5 hours or more (twice a month below that), at least one hour a month individual and face-to-face, and an hour of direct observation every four months, or every two if you qualified by the 40-hour route. Certification and license maintenance hours may be applied to the 20.

Clock Annual hours · weekly supervision · 3rd-edition RBT training within one year of a 2nd-edition certificate (OMHSAS guidance, April 2, 2026)

55 Pa. Code § 5240.73(e), (g) · § 5240.83(d), (e) · § 5240.72(b) · § 5240.82(c)

Every number on this chart is Pennsylvania’s, not ours. Each one is cited to the section of 55 Pa. Code that sets it, so you can check it and quote it back. If your personnel file does not show the supervision, that is the agency’s licensing problem, not yours.

Read your role, not the whole page. Pennsylvania sets different requirements for different IBHS roles, and the most common mistake is a person applying someone else's list to themselves. Find your role below and stop there.

If you are a BHT and you have not provided BHT services before

1. Before you work independently — 30 hours

The regulation asks for at least 30 hours of Department-approved training before you provide services independently. It names the topics, including child protective services and mandated reporting, crisis intervention and de-escalation, behavior management, child and adolescent development, first aid and universal precautions, and psychotropic medications.

55 Pa. Code § 5240.73(c)

2. Within your first six months — a further 24 hours

Documentation skills, systems-of-care principles, an overview of functional behavioral assessment, the treatment plan and special education information, and the safe use of restrictive procedures.

55 Pa. Code § 5240.73(d)

3. Every year after that — 20 hours

At least 20 hours of Department-approved training annually, related to your specific job functions and in line with your individual training plan.

55 Pa. Code § 5240.73(e), with § 5240.13

The conditional that catches people out. Both the 30-hour and the 24-hour requirements begin “if the individual has not previously provided BHT services.” They are for people new to the role. If you have provided BHT services before, those two do not apply to you and the annual 20 hours does. This one clause changes the answer completely, so read it on the code rather than taking anyone's summary — including ours.

If you are an established BHT

At least 20 hours annually of Department-approved training, related to your job functions and your individual training plan.

55 Pa. Code § 5240.73(e)

If you provide behavior consultation or mobile therapy

At least 16 hours annually of Department-approved training, related to your job functions and your individual training plan.

55 Pa. Code § 5240.73(b)

If you are BHT-ABA

The regulation points you back at the BHT requirements — training in accordance with § 5240.73(c), (d) and (f) — and then adds at least 20 hours annually related to ABA, approved by the Department or provided by a continuing education provider approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board.

55 Pa. Code § 5240.83(d)(1) and (d)(2)

If you provide behavior-analytic services or behavior consultation—ABA

At least 16 hours annually, approved by the Department or provided by a continuing education provider approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, related to your job functions and your individual training plan.

55 Pa. Code § 5240.83(b)

If you provide assistant behavior consultation—ABA

This is a different role from the one above and it carries two separate requirements, not one.

20 hours before you work independently — but only if you do not already hold a BCBA, BCaBA, BCAT, or another graduate or undergraduate certification in behavior analysis accredited by the NCCA or ANSI. Training related to ABA, approved by the Department or provided by a continuing education provider approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board.

20 hours annually — this one applies to everyone in the role, certified or not, related to your job functions and your individual training plan.

55 Pa. Code § 5240.83(c)(1) and (c)(2)

If you are certified or licensed, your hours may already be done. The regulation says the hours you complete to maintain a certification, or to maintain a Pennsylvania license, may be counted toward the training requirements in subsections (b) through (d). That is the regulation's own allowance, not a workaround — but your agency still has to record them against your individual training plan. 55 Pa. Code § 5240.83(e) and (f)

One thing worth knowing before anyone trains you on it. Pennsylvania prohibits seclusion in IBHS. If a training or a colleague presents leaving someone alone in a room they may not leave as a normal option, that is not a matter of house preference — the regulation forbids it. Restraint is separately restricted, and no one should be performing a physical procedure they have not been specifically trained and certified to perform. 55 Pa. Code § 5240.6 (restrictive procedures)

Two questions people ask us

What does the regulation say about training from a BACB-authorized CE provider?

For the ABA limbs, the regulation says so on its face — § 5240.83 accepts training “approved by the Department or provided by a continuing education provider approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board.” For the § 5240.73 limbs the wording is “Department-approved,” and the Department publishes its own list of trainings that do not require separate review. Check that list, or ask your agency's training coordinator, before you assume either way.

My hours are done — who keeps the record?

Your agency maintains a staff training plan and the documentation behind it (§ 5240.13). Keep your own copies as well. If you move employers, the record you can produce is the one that helps you.

How to check any of this yourself. Every requirement above names its section. Read them at the Pennsylvania Code — § 5240.73 for individual services, § 5240.83 for ABA services, § 5240.13 for the staff training plan, § 5240.6 for restrictive procedures. If what you are told at work differs from the section, the section is the thing to raise.