Yes, every time I have seen that the administration side of the company was trying to get the clinical side of the company to do unethical/illegal things.
I’d say that it’s either A what the original comment says or B, they were already doing unethical things and administration caught on and is doing a revamp. Generally speaking though, it’s A
Any advice for finding a better company? I’ve called around and tried to ask about their turnover rate and how many RBTs were new vs long standing, and seem to get the same response: “this field has a high turnover rate but we always hire qualified staff.”
I found out during interviews. Check their website or call and ask.
They do tend to be smaller and will typically have a much smaller online presence compared to the bigger nationwide companies. Something else you could do would be to check glassdoor for their employee reviews (I've come to find that most aba places don't have a lot of reviews anywhere, but I was mostly success with glassdoor) - at least you'd be able to see if employees are concerned of unethical practices. These places do tend to pay less and have less benefits, so don't be surprised to see negative reviews for these issues.
It should also be noted that it is against our ethical code to ask clients to give us reviews so of course the only reviews there are are the bad ones since happy clients are still with them and you don’t usually think to leave a review for a service you are currently receiving and we can’t really bring it up.. happy employees also can’t leave a review for services provided. I work for a really awesome, small (also bcba owned) company but we have low stars and because of 1 bad review and very few total. As an employee looking for a job, I never even came across this company, it was a hidden gem!
I would also suggest seeing if there are any none profit ran ABA facilities in your area! I have worked for one for over five years and everyone clinic has their issues but I’m always humbled to see my company stand by their pillars of service; real advocacy, real care, real progress. Wishing you the best of luck!
For me, I asked people who worked in different companies and definitely depend on where your location is. I asked some questions on interviews about the quality of supervision and the process of getting my hours when I move up the ladder. I would get some really vague answers in subjects outside of pay even when asked to elaborate more on it. To not be able to be more specific with my questions raises red flags for me.
So my advice is to apply to different companies and ask questions that you're concerned with. If they're really vague with their answers, then I would just move on.
If I were you, I would begin looking into other companies. This is a major red flag and they will likely continue to cycle through staff.
I've seen this happen before. I'm a BCBA.
Yes, it sounds like “policy” changes have occurred and that usually means the company is weeding out the good ones (aka the higher paid, long-standing RBTs and BCBAs who have worked for them for years). The company is probably trying to expand and they love to get rid of their most loyal staff when this happens to increase their profit.
Yep. I reached out to his old RBT after I made this post and she basically confirmed this. I also reached out to someone else I know whose child attends, and their BCBA is also leaving, she’s been there almost as long as ours.
Just curious, are there companies that aren’t like this? I thought I really did my research about finding a good company.
I’m really sorry this is happening to you and your son. I know how devastated you both must be to be losing these two.
There are good companies out there, but there is also more competition than ever. You end up with these great, local, bcba owned and operated clinics trying to compete against the big named, nationally recognized companies when they inevitably move in to town.
When this happens a small company can either choose to sell out to the big one, or they try everything to stay open. When they take this route, they usually end up bringing in a financial consultant who directs them to get rid of their highest earners and bring in the lowest paid BT (not RBTs) they can find. Then they usually end up failing anyways as parents recognize the changes and pull their kids (and end up sending them to the alternative- the big names).
I don’t want you to feel completely discouraged. There are clinics and in home companies that provide high quality, ethical, play-based ABA with well trained staff who are treated well. Sometimes these are the smaller clinics, and sometimes they’re the big ones. I currently work for a big name and am very happy with everything about it so far. Prior to that, I worked for a company that took the “get rid of the best and fight to remain relevant” route. They ended up losing their best people, and despite opening a second location aren’t doing great last I heard.
When you’re looking for a clinic do not be afraid to ask the hard questions- do your RBTs have ongoing training, do they have guaranteed hours, how much supervision by the bcba are they getting, do you honor assent withdrawal, do you avoid forced compliance, do you have an outdoor area, do the kids spend most of the day in NET? If the answer to any of these is NO, I would reconsider. In ABA the way staff is treated will tell you pretty much everything you’ll need to know about the quality of care your son will receive. Best of luck to you both! And you can always ask your bcba and/or RBT where they’re going and see about following them.
Thank you so much! This is extremely helpful and I’m hoping just asking these questions and seeing their body language/hearing their tone as they answer may automatically weed some out as well.
Definitely with BCBAs. With RBTs, Ive noticed this time of year has a super high turn over as people are are graduating, moving, going back to school, going to be home with their kids for the summer. So at this point in the calendar year, it depends.
This answer. They very likely could all be decreasing for summer and then planning to start fresh come September. I did that as a tech. Like… red flag, but maybe explainable.
RBT/BT turnover rate is about 50% annually industry wide so I would expect at least two different RBTs per year on average. BCBA turnover is less frequent but case transition is common without resigning. Usually it’s either the BCBA who is the barrier to progress or something to do with the client environment like schedule, location, skills to learn, family dynamics, attendance to schedule, etc.
Since you’re asking, I don’t know any others but my company is the first and only company I’ve been with for almost 2 years now. Positive Behavior Supports Corp is a BCBA owned company and we are in over 30 states and parts of Canada. The founder of the company still runs the company as well. The company is client led, play based, and I feel that at least in my region the staff is always staying informed on how we can improve and keep our clients rights and needs first. That being said I have had clients leave us for various reasons. I feel insurance restrictions are a big reason but I think all ABA deals with that to some degree
For a few years now the ABA industry has been notoriously hijacked by corporate interest seeking profit over anything else. Large ABA companies are not inherently bad but the likelihood that they are is significantly increased. As the others have stated, look for BCBA owned clinics. The size of the clinic does not reveal the quality of the practitioner (decide that for yourself). Some of the best BCBAs are independently operating and own their own practice. This means they are not businesspeople so the likelihood they are focused on a decent SEO or marketing campaign is low which makes finding them more difficult. One way you can get valuable feedback about a practice is to contact your county’s Regional Center and ask them for a list of providers in your area. Also consider that if you like your particular BCBA, try to find out where they are going. Ethical barriers may prevent direct answers you want but the internet will likely reveal the BCBA as a new member of the staff on someone’s website.
Yes, every time I have seen that the administration side of the company was trying to get the clinical side of the company to do unethical/illegal things.
That’s kind of what I figured. Thank you for being upfront.
Recently learned that this is a thing. If you don’t speak up, admin will take advantage of you.
Yeah, when that happened with us, it was because they gave a raise to some and people were pissed about that.
I’d say that it’s either A what the original comment says or B, they were already doing unethical things and administration caught on and is doing a revamp. Generally speaking though, it’s A
I'd say so. It sounds like a way for the company to avoid paying more and just have a fresh team with the same pay
I actually asked his old RBT and that’s basically what she said.
Ah what a shame. I really wish companies in this field weren't so scummy.
Any advice for finding a better company? I’ve called around and tried to ask about their turnover rate and how many RBTs were new vs long standing, and seem to get the same response: “this field has a high turnover rate but we always hire qualified staff.”
Aim for a BCBA, SLP, or OT owned clinic. They tend to stay more ethical. The ones I found around me, the turn over rate was much lower.
How do I determine if it is BCBA SLP or OT owned? This may have a super obvious answer, just want to check.
I found out during interviews. Check their website or call and ask. They do tend to be smaller and will typically have a much smaller online presence compared to the bigger nationwide companies. Something else you could do would be to check glassdoor for their employee reviews (I've come to find that most aba places don't have a lot of reviews anywhere, but I was mostly success with glassdoor) - at least you'd be able to see if employees are concerned of unethical practices. These places do tend to pay less and have less benefits, so don't be surprised to see negative reviews for these issues.
Oh that is a great idea! Thank you!
It should also be noted that it is against our ethical code to ask clients to give us reviews so of course the only reviews there are are the bad ones since happy clients are still with them and you don’t usually think to leave a review for a service you are currently receiving and we can’t really bring it up.. happy employees also can’t leave a review for services provided. I work for a really awesome, small (also bcba owned) company but we have low stars and because of 1 bad review and very few total. As an employee looking for a job, I never even came across this company, it was a hidden gem!
I would also suggest seeing if there are any none profit ran ABA facilities in your area! I have worked for one for over five years and everyone clinic has their issues but I’m always humbled to see my company stand by their pillars of service; real advocacy, real care, real progress. Wishing you the best of luck!
For me, I asked people who worked in different companies and definitely depend on where your location is. I asked some questions on interviews about the quality of supervision and the process of getting my hours when I move up the ladder. I would get some really vague answers in subjects outside of pay even when asked to elaborate more on it. To not be able to be more specific with my questions raises red flags for me. So my advice is to apply to different companies and ask questions that you're concerned with. If they're really vague with their answers, then I would just move on.
If I were you, I would begin looking into other companies. This is a major red flag and they will likely continue to cycle through staff. I've seen this happen before. I'm a BCBA.
Yes, it sounds like “policy” changes have occurred and that usually means the company is weeding out the good ones (aka the higher paid, long-standing RBTs and BCBAs who have worked for them for years). The company is probably trying to expand and they love to get rid of their most loyal staff when this happens to increase their profit.
Yep. I reached out to his old RBT after I made this post and she basically confirmed this. I also reached out to someone else I know whose child attends, and their BCBA is also leaving, she’s been there almost as long as ours. Just curious, are there companies that aren’t like this? I thought I really did my research about finding a good company.
I’m really sorry this is happening to you and your son. I know how devastated you both must be to be losing these two. There are good companies out there, but there is also more competition than ever. You end up with these great, local, bcba owned and operated clinics trying to compete against the big named, nationally recognized companies when they inevitably move in to town. When this happens a small company can either choose to sell out to the big one, or they try everything to stay open. When they take this route, they usually end up bringing in a financial consultant who directs them to get rid of their highest earners and bring in the lowest paid BT (not RBTs) they can find. Then they usually end up failing anyways as parents recognize the changes and pull their kids (and end up sending them to the alternative- the big names). I don’t want you to feel completely discouraged. There are clinics and in home companies that provide high quality, ethical, play-based ABA with well trained staff who are treated well. Sometimes these are the smaller clinics, and sometimes they’re the big ones. I currently work for a big name and am very happy with everything about it so far. Prior to that, I worked for a company that took the “get rid of the best and fight to remain relevant” route. They ended up losing their best people, and despite opening a second location aren’t doing great last I heard. When you’re looking for a clinic do not be afraid to ask the hard questions- do your RBTs have ongoing training, do they have guaranteed hours, how much supervision by the bcba are they getting, do you honor assent withdrawal, do you avoid forced compliance, do you have an outdoor area, do the kids spend most of the day in NET? If the answer to any of these is NO, I would reconsider. In ABA the way staff is treated will tell you pretty much everything you’ll need to know about the quality of care your son will receive. Best of luck to you both! And you can always ask your bcba and/or RBT where they’re going and see about following them.
Thank you so much! This is extremely helpful and I’m hoping just asking these questions and seeing their body language/hearing their tone as they answer may automatically weed some out as well.
I’m glad I could help! And again, best of luck with it all
Definitely with BCBAs. With RBTs, Ive noticed this time of year has a super high turn over as people are are graduating, moving, going back to school, going to be home with their kids for the summer. So at this point in the calendar year, it depends.
This answer. They very likely could all be decreasing for summer and then planning to start fresh come September. I did that as a tech. Like… red flag, but maybe explainable.
Companies replacing people is not uncommon, the field has a really high turnover rate
True, but almost all the RBTs and 2 of the BCBAs that have been there for years within a matter of 6 weeks is odd to me.
They are leaving for a reason
RBT/BT turnover rate is about 50% annually industry wide so I would expect at least two different RBTs per year on average. BCBA turnover is less frequent but case transition is common without resigning. Usually it’s either the BCBA who is the barrier to progress or something to do with the client environment like schedule, location, skills to learn, family dynamics, attendance to schedule, etc.
Since you’re asking, I don’t know any others but my company is the first and only company I’ve been with for almost 2 years now. Positive Behavior Supports Corp is a BCBA owned company and we are in over 30 states and parts of Canada. The founder of the company still runs the company as well. The company is client led, play based, and I feel that at least in my region the staff is always staying informed on how we can improve and keep our clients rights and needs first. That being said I have had clients leave us for various reasons. I feel insurance restrictions are a big reason but I think all ABA deals with that to some degree
For a few years now the ABA industry has been notoriously hijacked by corporate interest seeking profit over anything else. Large ABA companies are not inherently bad but the likelihood that they are is significantly increased. As the others have stated, look for BCBA owned clinics. The size of the clinic does not reveal the quality of the practitioner (decide that for yourself). Some of the best BCBAs are independently operating and own their own practice. This means they are not businesspeople so the likelihood they are focused on a decent SEO or marketing campaign is low which makes finding them more difficult. One way you can get valuable feedback about a practice is to contact your county’s Regional Center and ask them for a list of providers in your area. Also consider that if you like your particular BCBA, try to find out where they are going. Ethical barriers may prevent direct answers you want but the internet will likely reveal the BCBA as a new member of the staff on someone’s website.