The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB)’s recent newsletter covers some important elements related to the matter of RBTs and BCaBAs as Company Owners.
I am summarizing here my understanding of some key take home points and would value perspective from others with interest on this matter.
My takeaway here is that the conflicts of concern in the matter of RBTs and BCaBAs as company owners become relevant when the RBTs and BCaBAs who are company owners also hold certain clinical positions within their own company, such as client specific clinical work, and specifically any role that requires they are supervised by a BCBA or BCBA-D who also works at their company.
It is therefore also my understanding that an RBT or BCaBA can hold other roles in their own company (owner, operator) without being in breach of these violations if said roles do not fall within the scope of activities that require oversight by a BCBA/BCBA-D certificant. Put differently, work that is not behavior analytic in nature.
To add an extra layer, which I don’t believe was explicitly covered in that section of this newsletter but I believe would still be pertinent, their professional activities and roles that are not behavior analytic in nature must still comply with BACBs ethical code of conduct. For example, if they were found to have actively/intentionally engaged in illegal billing practices, that can put them at risk of an ethical violation.
I welcome any feedback on this interpretation.
Brandon Herscovitch, Ph.D., LABA, BCBA-D
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