Tag: BCBA

Documenting Fieldwork: Helpful Answers to Your FAQs

Documenting Fieldwork FAQs

Updated April 2026, this blog is based on the 2027 requirements.

Documenting fieldwork is a critical but sometimes tedious task. It requires strong organizational skills and attention to detail to stay on top of your documentation. In this blog, we answer some frequently asked questions and review scenarios to ensure you understand how best to document your fieldwork experiences.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The following are answers to common questions about documenting supervised fieldwork. These FAQs address common points of confusion and provide practical tips to help you document your experiences accurately and confidently.

Fieldwork Documentation System

A: You and your supervisor can collaborate to develop a documentation system, or you can develop it on your own. However, regardless of who develops and maintains the documentation system, both you and your supervisor are required to keep copies of all relevant documentation.

A: Both you and your supervisor should be tracking your fieldwork hours. At a minimum, your supervisor should review all of your hours for each supervisory period before signing the Monthly Fieldwork Verification Form (M-FVF). Don’t wait until the Final Fieldwork Verification Form (F-FVF) is due to be signed for your supervisor to review all of your hours!

A: This is a great question—and there’s a lot to consider. Here are a few pointers to get you started, but be sure to check out the Documenting Fieldwork Hours video for an in-depth look at how to best document your fieldwork:

  1. First, we recommend that you complete the Fieldwork Checklist and Tip Sheet, as it includes helpful guidance on getting started.
  2. Once you’ve begun your coursework, found a qualified supervisor, signed your supervision contract, and established your documentation system, you’ll likely begin accruing hours by performing both restricted and unrestricted activities. You should meet with your supervisor throughout the month to help ensure that you’re gaining the skills necessary to demonstrate competence in applied behavior analysis. You can find a more comprehensive description of acceptable activities in the relevant BCBA or BCaBA Handbook.
  3. By the end of the month, you’ll want to double-check that you’ve documented the total number of individual and group supervision hours you accrued and the total duration of observations with clients that took place that month. Don’t forget to document all other relevant information along the way (see the BCBA or BCaBA Handbook for additional information).
    • Remember to adjust your supervised fieldwork hours if you did not meet all of the monthly requirements (e.g., percentage of supervision, individual versus group supervision). Review the Requirements for Supervision of Fieldwork Hours section of the BCBA and BCaBA Handbooks for details on how to systematically reduce fieldwork hours in order to meet monthly requirements.
    • Note: Concentrated supervised fieldwork cannot be prorated or adjusted.
  4. At this point, you and your supervisor will review the documentation to confirm that all of the requirements for that month have been met. If your supervisor agrees with the listed attestations, they will sign your M-FVF for that supervisory period. This form must be signed by the last day of the calendar month following the month of supervision, and both you and your supervisor must retain copies for at least 7 years.
  5. Once your supervision relationship ends—whether because you’ve completed all fieldwork requirements or the supervision contract has concluded—your supervisor will sign your F-FVF. Unlike the M-FVF, the F-FVF can be signed at any time. When you’re ready to apply, you’ll submit this form with your application.

A: You will use the standard M-FVFs and F-FVFs to document both supervised fieldwork and concentrated supervised fieldwork. On the M-FVF, the percentage of hours supervised and the duration of observations with clients determine whether the fieldwork for that month qualifies as supervised fieldwork or concentrated supervised fieldwork. If the higher requirements for concentrated supervised fieldwork are met for the month, the hours may be counted as concentrated supervised fieldwork. On the F-FVF, supervised fieldwork and concentrated supervised fieldwork are documented in separate sections.

Please note that concentrated supervised fieldwork hours have approximately 1.33 times the temporal value of supervised fieldwork hours for those working toward BCBA certification and approximately 1.3 times the temporal value of supervised fieldwork hours for those working toward BCaBA certification. In your personal documentation system, you may want to convert your concentrated supervised fieldwork hours to supervised fieldwork hours to ensure that you’re on track to accrue all required hours for certification. Review the Requirements for Supervision of Fieldwork Hours section of the BCBA or BCaBA Handbooks for more guidance.

A: Yes! You should keep all of your fieldwork documents organized and up to date in anticipation of an audit. If you’re audited, we’ll provide you with an audit log and the time period being audited. With your documentation system already organized, it’ll be easy to complete the audit log. Review the Fieldwork Audit Process visual in the BCBA or BCaBA Handbook for more information.

Monthly and Final Fieldwork Verification Forms

A: Your BACB ID is located in your BACB portal account. If you don’t have a portal account, you’ll need to create one. We strongly recommend creating only one account to prevent delays in processing your application. If you experience any issues accessing your account, use the Contact Us Form for assistance.

A: This one is important! Here’s what you can do:

  • If it’s still within one calendar month of the supervisory period, you can create a new version and get all of the necessary signatures.
  • If it’s more than one calendar month after the supervisory period has ended, you and your supervisor can make the relevant changes and have everyone involved initial them. Just make sure that your documentation can support the corrected form!

A: No. You should not count those hours, as you do not have written documentation of the supervision. If your fieldwork is selected for an audit and you do not have those forms, those hours will not be accepted, and you may need to complete additional fieldwork.

A: Absolutely. Please see the Acceptable Signatures Policy for more information on acceptable types of digital signatures. When you apply, you’ll receive guidance on where to submit your forms.

A: Although we can’t guarantee that a form will be approved, we strongly encourage you to save your Final Fieldwork Verification Form and then open the saved file to review it. If the file is saved incorrectly and data is missing, your submission will not be accepted. By reviewing the saved file in advance, you can ensure that your form is not missing any information.

A: It depends! Let’s break it down:

  • Monthly Fieldwork Verification Form: No. The responsible supervisor is the only one who must be listed on and who must sign the form.
  • Final Fieldwork Verification Form: Yes. Anyone from the organization who provided supervision for you must be listed; however, the responsible supervisor should be the only one to sign the form.

A: If you’re receiving supervision from multiple supervisors at one organization, you’ll need a responsible supervisor—an individual who ensures that all of the supervisors’ activities are well organized and coordinated. The person who serves in this role must be identified on the supervision contract and must be able to agree to all of the relevant attestations on the Monthly and Final Fieldwork Verification Forms. For this reason, the responsible supervisor who signs the Final Fieldwork Verification Form must have been qualified to be a responsible supervisor for the entire duration of the supervision provided. Anyone who meets those requirements may act as your responsible supervisor.

A: It depends. If your fieldwork meets the Multiple Supervisors/Settings requirements outlined in the Supervised Fieldwork Requirements section of the BCBA or BCaBA Handbook, you can use this form. For example, a university may coordinate all on- and off-campus activities under one system, or a service organization may have multiple supervisors at different locations providing supervision. The key is that your coordinated fieldwork experience is completed with a clearly defined responsible supervisor who ensures that the activity is well organized and meets all BACB fieldwork requirements.

Common Fieldwork Documentation Scenarios

Here are some common scenarios related to documenting fieldwork. Keep reading to learn how to prevent mistakes and accurately document your fieldwork experiences.

Scenario: Gemma is getting her supervised fieldwork at two locations. One is an ABA clinic where she works part-time for 10 hours a week (40 hours per month). She has two supervisors at that location. The other location is a clinic affiliated with the university she attends, and her supervisor is one of her professors. At this location, she has only one supervisor and is receiving concentrated supervised fieldwork. She also works 10 hours a week at this location (40 hours per month). What does Gemma need to pay close attention to as she completes her M-FVFs for these experiences?

Solution: Gemma should complete an M-FVF for each location and ensure she is meeting all of the fieldwork requirements at each setting. At the ABA clinic, where she has two supervisors, she should complete the 2027 Monthly Fieldwork Verification Form: Multiple Supervisors at One Organization and have the responsible supervisor sign it. At the university clinic, she should complete the 2027 Monthly Fieldwork Verification Form: Individual Supervisor and have her supervisor sign it. Even though she is receiving concentrated supervised fieldwork at this location, she should record the actual fieldwork hours she accrued on the form (as opposed to using the multiplier). However, in her personal ongoing fieldwork documentation, she should document that she is receiving concentrated supervised fieldwork. In her personal documentation system, she may want to consider converting her concentrated supervised fieldwork (by multiplying it by 1.33 if working toward BCBA certification or 1.3 if working toward BCaBA certification) to ensure she is on track to accrue all required hours.

Scenario: Ahmed has been collecting fieldwork hours for two years. He thinks he is close to meeting the requirement of 2,000 hours for BCBA fieldwork. Ahmed has accrued both supervised fieldwork hours and concentrated supervised fieldwork hours. He is currently accruing only supervised fieldwork hours at one location for 20 hours a week. What should he do to determine how close he is to meeting the requirements?

Solution: Ahmed should total up the number of concentrated supervised fieldwork hours he has accrued using the F-FVF(s) he has for those experiences. Then, he should multiply the sum of the concentrated supervised fieldwork hours by 1.33. After that, he should total up the number of supervised fieldwork hours he has using those M-FVFs and F-FVFs. Summing those two totals will give him the total number of hours he has accrued so far.

Ahmed should ensure that the 1.33 multiplier is only used on concentrated supervised fieldwork hours to help him determine if he has met the 2,000-hour requirement. When he documents his hours on M-FVF or F-FVF forms, he should always record the actual hours accrued, not the adjusted total calculated using the multiplier. Finally, he should ensure that his documentation indicates which hours were concentrated supervised fieldwork hours. In the event of an audit, he will have to indicate which hours were adjusted to meet the requirements.

Note: The multiplier for concentrated supervised fieldwork for those working toward BCaBA certification is 1.3.

Scenario: Liam works at a large organization that provides ABA services to children with autism. He has four different supervisors at this organization. They all signed his original supervision contract, but he is confused about who should sign his M-FVF forms and who will sign his F-FVF when the time comes.

Solution: On a monthly basis, Liam only needs to have his responsible supervisor sign the M-FVFs. The responsible supervisor is an individual who ensures that all the supervisors’ activities are well organized and coordinated. On the F-FVF, all of his supervisors must be listed, but only the responsible supervisor is required to sign.

Scenario: Sunita’s supervisor, Alex, typically observes her during a client session about once a week. Every week, Alex observes Sunita working with a different client than the previous week. Alex usually takes notes during the observation and then provides feedback to Sunita during their supervision meetings. Sometimes, if Alex wants Sunita to change something during the observation session, Alex will give feedback to Sunita during the session and then follow up in their supervision meeting. Sunita is worried that Alex sometimes gives feedback during the observation and sometimes later. Can she still count both of those observation sessions toward her fieldwork requirements?

Solution: Yes, observations with a client can include feedback or they can simply be observations, and feedback can be provided later. The difference between the two is how Sunita records the observation. If Alex only observes Sunita with a client and does not provide feedback during the session, Sunita should count that time as independent fieldwork and observation with a client. If Alex provides feedback to Sunita during the observation and they discuss the feedback, then Sunita can count that time as supervisor-trainee contact and observation with a client.

Wrapping Up

Documenting fieldwork is vital to show that you are meeting the BACB’s requirements. We hope these FAQs and scenarios about fieldwork documentation helped answer your questions about accurately documenting your fieldwork experiences.

Documenting Fieldwork Hours

Documenting Fieldwork Hours

By the BACB

This video covers important information about how to best document your fieldwork hours. Check it out for helpful insight into the supervision contract, ongoing documentation system, Monthly and Final Fieldwork Verification Forms, and beyond.

You can find all of the BACB’s videos on our YouTube channel.

Introduction to the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts

Inside the BACB: Episode 15

Introduction to the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts – In this episode of Inside the BACB, join CEO Dr. Jim Carr and Director of Ethics Dr. Tyra Sellers as they discuss the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts, an updated ethics Code for BCBAs and BCaBAs. Listen now to get the inside scoop on the revision process, important additions to the Code, and more.

You can find all of the BACB’s videos on our YouTube channel.

Tips for New Certificants

Tips for New Certificants

UPDATED: January 2, 2026

First things first—congratulations! You met your eligibility requirements, passed your examination, and earned your certification. You just successfully finished what some believe to be the hardest part of becoming an RBT, BCaBA, or BCBA.

But now you’re facing a whole new set of challenges, including maintaining your certification and assuming your new role. To help you start off on the right foot, here are a few tips for your first weeks as a certificant.

Tip #1: Review the contact information in your BACB account

When you earn your certification, it’s important to review your BACB account and update any outdated or incorrect information. Although the BACB strongly encourages applicants to review and update their contact information as changes occur, this tip is especially important once you pass your examination and earn your certification.

But why is this review so crucial?

For one, within 4–6 weeks of passing your BCBA or BCaBA examination, your official certificate will arrive at the mailing address listed in your BACB account—however outdated that address may be. So, to prevent a mailing mishap, be sure to update your home address. Also take care to review your name, phone number, and email address, as outdated or incorrect information in any of these fields may create a problem down the line.

Tip #2: Get familiar with the Certificant Registry

The BACB Certificant Registry database includes vital information about all BACB certificants, including their location; certification number, status, and activation/recertification date; disciplinary actions or sanctions, if any; and availability for supervision services. It’s a valuable resource for employers, service recipients, applicants, and certificants alike, so we recommend getting to know it a little bit better.

As a new certificant, you will not appear in the database immediately. Like your certificant number, which may take up to 24 hours to appear in your BACB account, your name may take up to 48 hours to appear in the BACB Certificant Registry. At that point, your certification information will become public.

Once your information is public, potential employers and supervisors can use the BACB Certificant Registry to verify your certification. You can also use the registry to find and contact supervisors in your area if or when necessary. But be careful—as stated earlier, if your address is not updated in your BACB account, the registry may not reflect your current location.

We encourage you to give the BACB Certificant Registry a try—maybe even search your own name to see how you will appear to others!

Tip #3: Update your resume and curriculum vitae

This tip is as short and sweet as they come, but it’s important nonetheless: Don’t forget to list your new certification on your resume and/or curriculum vitae! Once you enter the working world, you’ll want to ensure that your new title—and all of the hard work that went into getting it—is reflected on paper for potential employers to see.

Tip #4: Research your state’s licensure requirements

If you are a BACB certificant who intends to practice in the United States, you must adhere to your state’s licensure requirements before practicing or billing. This tip may be the most crucial in this list, as ABA practitioners who practice without licensure in regulated states may face serious consequences, such as disciplinary actions against their certification or even incarceration.

Follow these steps to learn more:

  1. Visit our US Licensure of Behavior Analysts web page.
  2. If your state is regulated, click on your state in the table to navigate to its regulatory board website.
  3. There, you can find detailed information about your state’s licensure requirements and applications, if necessary.

Tip #5: Establish a maintenance plan

“There’s no such thing as too early!” – Bird that got the worm

It never hurts to be prepared, which is why it’s a great idea to begin establishing a plan to meet the maintenance requirements for your certification as soon as possible. As an RBT, BCaBA, or BCBA, you must meet specific requirements and complete certain tasks before you are able to recertify. It’s helpful to keep those to-dos in mind and plan ahead to avoid a last-minute panic or, at worst, an expired certification.

To create a maintenance plan, find out the length of your recertification cycle, the continuing education (CE) or professional development (PD) requirements that you must meet, and the tasks that you must complete within the 45-day period before your recertification date. Then, do your research! Visit the Continuing Education or Professional Development tab in your BACB account to find a summary of the continuing education units (CEUs) or professional development units (PDUs) needed for your current certification cycle—maybe even mark your target milestones on a calendar or planning app.

To get started, review the following table for a basic overview of the current BACB maintenance requirements for each certification.

Overview of Maintenance Requirements
Certification Recertification Date CE Requirements Ongoing Requirements 45 Days Before Recertification Date
RBT 2 years from original certification date
  • Complete 12 PDUs
  • Enter PDUs in your BACB account
  • Abide by the RBT Ethics Code (2.0) and self-reporting requirements
  • Meet the ongoing supervision requirements
 Recertify
BCaBA 2 years from original certification date
  • Complete 20 CEUs (4 in Ethics, 3 in Supervision if applicable)
  • Enter CEUs in your BACB account
  • Abide by BACB ethics and self-reporting requirements
  • Meet the ongoing supervision requirements
 Recertify
BCBA/BCBA-D 2 years from original certification date
  • Complete 32 CEUs (4 in Ethics, 3 in Supervision if applicable)
  • Enter CEUs in your BACB account
 Abide by BACB ethics and self-reporting requirements Recertify

For more detailed, in-depth information about current BACB maintenance requirements, please visit the RBT, BCaBA, or BCBA Handbook.

Tip #6: Check out the Resources tab in your BACB account

As a new BCBA or BCaBA, you have access to multiple behavior-analytic scholarly journals and databases. These journals and databases may be helpful resources as you integrate current research into your behavior-analytic practice activities—and the best part is that they’re free through your BACB account!

We encourage you to take some time to explore the Resources tab, as spending time in behavior-analytic literature is one of the best ways to stay in the know about advancements in the field. In fact, in a profession that is rapidly advancing, your education will continue long after you pass your examination.

. . .

These six tips are not the end-all, be-all of your first weeks as a BACB certificant. No matter how thoroughly you plan and prepare, you will surely run into hiccups and roadblocks at one point or another. That’s simply the nature of doing something new. Even so, we hope that these tips help you assume your new role with confidence.

Thank you for your hard work and dedication to applied behavior analysis. We are so happy to have you as a certificant. Best of luck!

The BACB: What It Is, What It Does, and Why

The BACB: What It Is, What It Does, and Why

It doesn’t matter if you have been a BACB certificant for many years, are newly certified, or are just starting to explore becoming a practitioner of behavior analysis—it is likely that you have a number of questions about the landscape of the applied behavior analysis (ABA) profession. This is where the importance of understanding the role of the BACB in the profession comes in.

The BACB was established in 1998 to meet the credentialing needs of ABA practitioners, governments, and consumers of ABA services. In the BACB’s early years, its certification programs grew consistently but slowly. In its first 13 years, the BACB certified 10,000 individuals. In the last several years, this number has grown to more than 120,000 certificants! In addition, since 2009, 34 states have passed laws to license behavior analysts. These developments mean that professional certification and the credentialing of ABA practitioners are relatively recent events, about which many people have questions. These include: What is the BACB’s role? What is credentialing and why is it important? Why can’t the BACB speak for behavior analysis? To get a better understanding of how it all works, read on for answers to these common questions.

What Is The BACB?

The Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) is:

  • A nonprofit organization – The BACB was founded in Florida as a nonprofit corporation in 1998 and has 501(c)(3) tax–exempt status from the IRS. Both of these legal and regulatory frameworks place important limits on BACB activity.
  • A credentialing organization – The primary function of the BACB is to operate certification programs, similar to a regulatory entity. In this role, the BACB provides practice requirements, ethics codes, and Code-Enforcement Procedures that are designed to protect consumers, applicants, and certificants, among other certification–program activities. In this capacity, ABA practitioners must interact with the BACB regularly to maintain their certification.

What Is Credentialing and Why Is It Important?

As mentioned earlier, the BACB’s certification programs exist as a regulatory–like mechanism to protect consumers of behavior–analytic services. To protect consumers, the BACB establishes entry–level eligibility standards for education and training AND provides a mechanism to address behavior analysis practitioners who violate BACB ethics code(s).

Professional Credentialing

Credentialing is vital to the profession of behavior analysis because of the particularly vulnerable populations that a majority of behavior analysis practitioners serve. Without credentialing, how would we know who is qualified to enter the profession and who isn’t?

Two of the many differences between private certification and government–issued licensure are highlighted in the following text boxes because these are the two primary ways behavior analysts are credentialed to practice.

Private Certification (BACB)

  • Voluntary
  • Code enforcement is limited to those certified by the BACB or applying for BACB certification, and consequences may be imposed on an individual’s certification or their ability to apply.

Licensure (34 states)

  • Mandatory
  • Disciplinary enforcement may be enacted upon anyone practicing, with or without a license, and consequences include substantial fines and possible incarceration.

 

In the ABA profession, practitioners who obtain certification by the BACB have a great deal of mobility because their certification will meet licensure requirements in almost any state with licensure for the practice of behavior analysis. For more information about US state licensure, please refer to the BACB’s US Licensure of Behavior Analysts web page or visit APBA’s Licensure and Other Regulation of ABA Practitioners web page.

NCCA Accreditation and Consumer Protection

All three of the BACB’s current certification programs are accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). The BACB must adhere to NCCA–established accreditation processes, similar to the way BACB certificants and applicants must meet BACB requirements.

Using the NCCA accreditation processes, the BACB convenes groups of subject matter experts (SMEs) to evaluate and potentially revise requirements for each BACB credential. SME recommendations are then voted on by the BACB Board of Directors before they are adopted. Through this process, the requirements change as needed to ensure greater consumer protection through standards that accurately reflect the ever–evolving practice of behavior analysis. As usual, everything comes back to consumer protection.

For anyone interested in a little more reading about the processes that are used by the BACB to develop standards and examinations, they are outlined in a number of publications that can be found on our BACB Resources web page. In addition, you can give us feedback if you have suggestions for SMEs to consider when they revise requirements by submitting a Certification Program Requirements: Request for Change form.

What Is the BACB’s Role in The ABA Profession?

The major professional organizations in ABA have very specific missions and roles and substantial limitations on their activities from various sources. These limitations include state laws where the organization was founded as a nonprofit, IRS rules, and for the BACB, our NCCA accreditation requirements. Let’s start with the role of the BACB.

To recap, the BACB’s job is to credential practitioners of behavior analysis and to coordinate with regulatory authorities. Although we are sometimes called upon to engage in advocacy and political and social commentary, our involvement in these activities is necessarily restricted by some of the entities mentioned earlier. In our regulatory–like role, the BACB is prohibited from engaging in political activity and has very strict limitations on its acceptable activities. That said, a number of the questions we receive indicate that some think of the BACB as a professional membership association, with flexibility about our public behavior. Although we sometimes wish we could engage in a broader array of advocacy activities, we have a very limited role in ABA—again, due to restrictions imposed upon us by certain legal statutes and IRS rules. It’s useful to think about the BACB as similar to a licensure board since we serve a similar and often interrelated regulatory function. It is notable to mention here that other professions may have certification boards that look like the BACB in function but are regulated differently under law and IRS rules, which allows them greater flexibility than the BACB. We know that this makes understanding our limitations pretty tricky!

A professional membership association is charged with representing the interests of its members and speaking on behalf of a profession. The BACB doesn’t have members; we have certificants. Fortunately, ABA has a number of state, provincial, and national professional associations to serve the membership role.

Two major professional membership associations in behavior analysis are the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts (APBA) and the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI). These organizations were established to provide different services than a certification board and are permitted much more flexibility in their permissible activities, including making public statements and taking a stand on social issues. We strongly encourage our certificants to become members in their state and national professional associations if they have not already. In fact, at the very beginning of a certificant’s professional experience, we send a welcome letter encouraging them to join and become involved in their relevant professional associations. The professional membership associations are permitted to engage in a wide range of important activities. They are truly the voice of behavior analysis and have the primary obligation to represent our profession. Together, membership associations, the BACB, and, most importantly, behavior analysis practitioners and stakeholders can work to improve the discipline of behavior analysis.

We hope that this information answers some of your questions about what the BACB does and why. If you’re interested in hearing more about this topic, check out our podcast episode, The BACB’s Role in the Profession of Behavior Analysis.

ASD Practice Guidelines Find New Home with CASP

Note: The information in this blog may be outdated.

ASD Practice Guidelines Find New Home with CASP

There’s no place like home – although sometimes it takes a little while to get there.

On March 25, 2020, the Applied Behavior Analysis Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Practice Guidelines for Healthcare Funders and Managers (2nd edition) – commonly referred to as the ASD Practice Guidelines – were transferred to the Council of Autism Service Providers (CASP). The BACB first published the ASD Practice Guidelines in 2012, and the current and second edition in 2014. While such practice guidelines are traditionally published by membership organizations, the BACB’s Board of Directors authorized publication due to an impending need at the time to provide guidance to the many new funders developing ABA benefit plans as a result of legislative activity.

With its mission of cultivating, sharing, and advocating for provider best practices in autism services, CASP is an apt home for the ASD Practice Guidelines. Formed in 2015, the nonprofit organization is the official trade association of autism service providers. Its member agencies – all of which must demonstrate an ongoing commitment to evidence-based practice – care for more than 50,000 children and adults with autism across the U.S. Lorri Unumb, Esq., CASP’s CEO, is renowned for her accomplishments as vice president for state government affairs for Autism Speaks, where she led the autism insurance reform movement that resulted in all 50 states requiring meaningful health insurance benefits for autism. Unumb heads up CASP with Mike Wasmer, DVM, DACVIM, who serves as vice president of government affairs and special projects. Previously, Wasmer served as a director of state government affairs at Autism Speaks, and was instrumental in leading the passage of autism insurance reform laws. He is a frequent speaker on autism advocacy and policy, and has successfully advocated for the addition of ABA benefits in many self-funded health plans.

Following the transfer of the ASD Practice Guidelines, CASP plans to publish the third edition of the guidelines in 2021. For more information about CASP, and to download a copy of the ASD Practice Guidelines (2nd Edition), visit casproviders.org/asd-guidelines. Hear directly from Lorri Unumb and Dr. Jim Carr, CEO of the BACB, about the ASD Practice Guidelines transfer in an episode of the Inside the BACB podcast available for streaming now.

All BACB blogs are intended for general information only. Readers should refer to bacb.com for the most up-to-date information regarding BACB policies, standards, and requirements as blog content does not replace or supersede this information. All BACB blogs are the property of the BACB and may not be commercially reproduced or edited in any medium.

BCBA and BCaBA Exams: Immediate Results and Year-round Availability

Note: The information in this blog may be outdated.

BCBA and BCaBA Exams: Immediate Results and Year-round Availability

Convenience and immediate results: We seek both in virtually every aspect of our daily lives – from our food and entertainment to our transportation. Now you can expect these same qualities in your BCBA and BCaBA certification exams.

Following extensive work to ensure that our systems are optimized, we will move to continual testing on Feb. 1, which means that those of you seeking BCBA and BCaBA certification will not have to wait for testing windows to take your exams. Once you apply for certification and your application is approved, you’ll be able to schedule your certification exam as soon as you receive your "authorization to test" email (typically within 24 hours of your application being approved). This means that YOU pick a time, date, and location that works for YOU.

And, if that’s not enough to get you excited, when you take your BCBA or BCaBA certification exam, you’ll get the results BEFORE you leave the testing center. You read that correctly: When you walk out the door, you’ll know whether you’re certified or whether you have to retake the exam. If you pass the exam, your certification is effective immediately (woo hoo!) and you’ll find your certification number in your BACB account within 24 hours. If you fail the exam, you’ll be able to start planning your retake right away: The retake application will be available in your BACB account within 24 hours, and once your completed application is authorized, you can sit for the exam 30 days from the date of your last attempt. That gives you plenty of time to study and prepare.

Why Now?

Given our excitement about these changes, many of you may be asking, "Why didn’t the BACB offer continual testing and immediate exam results before now?" Well, we did – but only for our RBT certification exam. With the dramatic growth of the profession in recent years – and the number of you applying for BCBA and BCaBA certification – requests for greater flexibility in scheduling those exams have increased exponentially. Similarly, our growth as an organization means that we now have the psychometric infrastructure to make these changes without impacting the quality of the BCBA and BCaBA exams.

Our ability to provide you with your score report before you leave the testing center is tied to how we now equate our exams – or in simpler terms, how we ensure our exams are fair and valid. Historically, we used a post-equating model to analyze exam data in order to ensure fairness and validity. It recently became possible for us to implement a pre-equating model, however, something that enables us to perform data analysis earlier in the testing process, which means immediate results for you.

Keep In Mind

When you can take the BCBA and BCaBA certification exams may have changed, but their look, feel, format, and rigor has not, nor has the overall testing experience or our stringent security standards.

Another thing that hasn’t changed is how many attempts you have to pass the certification exam: You still have eight chances to take and pass the exam within a two-year period after you’re authorized to take it. Like before, we urge you to prepare for each exam attempt you make. If you fail the exam, use your score report to identify the areas in which you need additional study time – or training or fieldwork – for your next attempt. The bottom line is, if you use all of your eight exam attempts before the end of your two-year authorization period, you’ll have to wait for that period to end before you can reapply for that certification. And anyone authorized to take the BCBA or BCaBA exam on January 1, 2020 or later has a two-year authorization that will expire after the transition to our 5th edition standards on January 1, 2022. This means that if you don’t pass your exam within your two-year authorization window, you’ll have to reapply for certification under the new standards, which entail additional coursework and fieldwork requirements.

While this rarely happens, if you’re authorized to take the BCBA certification exam and you use all eight exam attempts before the end of your two-year authorization period, you have the option of applying for BCaBA certification. Perhaps you’re not quite ready to practice as a BCBA and need a bit more training and experience in behavior analysis. If you apply for and pass the BCaBA certification exam, you can start working in the field and preparing yourself to become a BCBA. Should you take this route, you will have to reapply for BCBA certification and meet the requirements applicable at the time you reapply.

One final thing to consider: Now that certification application deadlines and testing windows have gone out the . well, window, it will be harder to predict when busy application periods will be throughout the year. You may apply during a period when we happen to receive a high volume of applications, which means it will take us a little longer to review your application than it would if you applied during a low-volume period. To be safe, allow up to 45 days for your application to be processed. As always, you can visit our Customer Service page for the latest on application processing times.

Want More Information?

We hope you’re as excited about the changes to our BCBA and BCaBA testing as we are. We’re SO excited, in fact, that we dedicated an entire episode of the Inside the BACB podcast to this topic for your listening pleasure. Additionally, everything you need to know about these changes is available at bacb.com, the official source of information for everything BACB.

Happy testing!

All BACB blogs are intended for general information only. Readers should refer to bacb.com for the most up-to-date information regarding BACB policies, standards, and requirements as blog content does not replace or supersede this information. All BACB blogs are the property of the BACB and may not be commercially reproduced or edited in any medium.

BCBA and BCaBA Applicants: 5 Tips for a Smoother Application Process

BCBA and BCaBA Applicants: 5 Tips for a Smoother Application Process

UPDATED: June 29, 2026

We get it: Life is short, time is precious, and waiting really is the hardest part, particularly when you’ve got a lot riding on something, like your BACB certification exam. You want to know NOW whether you’re eligible to take the exam, and we want to tell you (really!). But we need your help.

The following five tips help pave the way for a smoother application process by giving us what we need when we need it so that we can review your application and required documentation as efficiently as possible. This means that we’ll be able to give you the answers you seek sooner rather than later.

Tip #1: Get your ducks in a row. Before you even think about applying for certification, take a step back and determine whether you meet all the eligibility requirements. Do you have the required degree? Is your degree from an accredited ABAI program? If not, have you confirmed with your university faculty that a Pathway 2 Coursework Attestation has been submitted on your behalf? Have you double-checked the calculations on your Final Fieldwork Verification Forms (F-FVFs)? Do you have the necessary signatures from the necessary people? Ask for help if you’re uncertain about your eligibility. Your supervisor or university program coordinator are great resources. We’re happy to help!

Tip #2: All together now. Once you’re certain you meet all the eligibility requirements, get all your documents in order before submitting your application so that you have everything at your fingertips and aren’t scrambling for missing pieces at the 11th hour. We only review complete applications (i.e., the application itself, the application fee, and your supplemental documents) so if we notice that one of these things is missing, we must pause the process and check with you to see where it is and when we’ll receive it. Getting everything in order before you start the process will make life easier, for all of us.

Tip #3: What’s in a name? Everything! Please, please, PLEASE make sure the name on your transcript and F-FVF(s) matches the name in your BACB portal account EXACTLY. If your name has changed, let us know and update your information in your BACB portal account. It’s also a good idea to include your BACB account number on everything you send us as an additional means of identification. It’s simple: If we can’t verify who you are, we can’t process your application.

Tip #4: Can we all agree? Be sure the supervisor who signs your F-FVF(s) is the supervisor who can agree to the attestations you’ve made on your F-FVF(s). This is the supervisor who is listed on your supervision contract, and who meets all supervision requirements during the entire fieldwork timeframe you record on your F-FVF(s). And while we’re talking F-FVFs, please don’t change information (i.e., cross out statements or insert new ones) on your F-FVF(s) once your supervisor has signed it/them. We have no way of knowing whether your supervisor has approved or verified the altered information. If you must make changes, we recommend completing a new form(s), having your supervisor sign it/them, and sending us a clean copy(ies).

Tip #5: Make it official. We require a sealed official transcript or an e-transcript sent directly to us from your institution(s). Make sure your transcript(s) lists all required degrees and coursework. Please don’t send us a photocopy of your degree or (perish the thought!) the real thing. If you earned your degree from one school and completed your coursework at another, we need two transcripts: one from each school. If you completed your degree and required coursework at the same school, one transcript showing both will do the trick.

While all this may seem pretty basic, you’d be surprised by some of the things people do when applying for certification (do we have stories!). Following these five simple tips will help smooth out and speed up our review of your application. And remember: Current application processing times, updates, and other news you need to know are available on our Application Processing Updates page. For specific instructions on applying for BACB certification, visit bacb.com and select the certification that applies to you.

All BACB blogs are intended for general information only. Readers should refer to bacb.com for the most up-to-date information regarding BACB policies, standards, and requirements as blog content does not replace or supersede this information. All BACB blogs are the property of the BACB and may not be commercially reproduced or edited in any medium.