Texas ABA

By Rachel Kramer

TxABA Mission
The Texas Association for Behavior Analysis (TxABA) continues to be guided by the mission to advance the science of behavior analysis to improve the world in which we live by disseminating knowledge from the science and providing resources to the behavior analytic community and the public in Texas in an ethical and high-quality manner.

TxABA Membership
Membership in TxABA is a 365-day membership from the date of payment; individuals may join anytime during the year. Voting/affiliate membership is $60 and student/RBT membership is $30. Members receive discounts on conference registration as well as free registration and CEUs for the TxABA webinar speaker series. Members may serve on TxABA Committees to help shape behavior analysis in Texas and participate in TxABA SIGs.

TxABA Executive Council (EC)
The 2021-2022 Executive Council consisted of President Jeffrey Dillen, Past-President Kate Johnson-Patagoc, Council Member Dr. Karen Toussaint, Council Member Jennifer Hines, Council Member Dr. Summer Gainey, Council Member Dr. Berenice de la Cruz, Senior Student Representative Jared Armshaw, and Junior Student Representative Julie Hrabal. TxABA welcomed a new executive director this year, Rachel Kramer who was serving as secretary-treasurer. Former Executive Director Dr. Zachary Morford stayed with TxABA now serving as the secretary-treasurer. The TxABA Executive Council continued to meet monthly to discuss strategic plan progress, monitor the budget, and discuss upcoming events.

TxABA Strategic Plan
The TxABA Executive Council met in person in August 2021 to review progress on the TxABA Strategic Plan. As the pandemic continues, TxABA has adjusted Short-Term Goals while retaining Long-Term Goals: 1) Develop the organizational infrastructure for committees, special interest groups (SIGs), the executive council, and administration; 2) Refine the relationship between TxABA and the TxABA Public Policy Group (TxABA PPG); 3) Support the quality and growth of the science and practice of behavior analysis through expansion of funding opportunities for science, practice, and research, and through the expansion of service offerings beyond the annual conference; 4) Increase the visibility and awareness of behavior analysis and TxABA among the public, and; 5) TxABA will engage in activities that promote diversity, inclusion, and equity as it pertains to its members, constituents, and conference attendees. To summarize TxABA’s progress on Strategic Plan Goals and communicate with members, a biannual newsletter was started this year, https://bit.ly/TxABANewsJan2022.

TxABA Annual Conference and Awards
TxABA hosted its 37th Annual Conference in Dallas, TX on April 21–24, 2022. It was a hybrid conference with BehaviorLive live streaming the conference and providing asynchronous viewing for most presentations after the conference. TxABA expanded to include pre-conference workshops on Thursday. The conference consisted of eight tracks with invited presentations: two Neurodevelopmental Disorders tracks, a Professional Track, a General Track, an Education Track, a Social Issues Track, an Organization Behavior Management Track, and a Research Track. It was great to see everyone who was able to join us in person after two years online. Thank you to everyone who made the 2022 TxABA Conference a success! The 38th Annual Conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk on April 27–30, 2023.

Two awards were presented this year at the TxABA 2022 Conference. Dr. Gordon Bourland was presented with the Distinguished Services to TxABA award for his many contributions to the organization over the years including serving as TxABA president twice, ACE Provider, Committees, and the first president of the Public Policy Group. Dr. Bourland’s involvement has been such that he is synonymous with TxABA. Courtney Hoffman was presented with Public Service Contributions to Behavior Analysis in Texas for serving as the TxABA PPG lobbyist for several years. She was pivotal to getting licensure passed in Texas and securing Medicaid coverage for ABA therapy. TxABA was honored to thank these two individuals for their hard work and dedication.

Other Activities
TxABA launched a webinar series in 2021–2022 to increase dissemination beyond the annual conference. TxABA’s first two webinar speakers were Dr. John Guercio in November and Dr. Malika Pritchett in January. There are two webinars scheduled for this summer, Dr. Lina Slim-Topdjian in June and Dr. David Cox in July. TxABA has been expanding resources for practitioners on our website with the help of our committees. For information on committees and SIGs please follow the link above to the newsletter.

TxABA Public Policy Group
The TxABA PPG is the sister organization of TxABA that focuses on legislative issues and lobbying. The 2021-2022 TxABA PPG officers consisted of President Rany Thommen, Past-President Jeffrey Dillen, Treasurer Berenice de la Cruz, Secretary Anna Sciarillo, and Communications Mariel Cremonie-Fernandez. The past year the TxABA PPG focused on Medicaid funding in Texas for ABA therapy. For more information, please visit https://behavioranalysispu.wixsite.com/txabappg.