Berkshire Association for Behavior Analysis and Therapy

By Stacie Bancroft

Babat 2024: A Strong Community for MA Behavior Analysts Babat continues to grow as like-minded MA behavior analysts, connected as much by their drive to bring good through science as their geographic proximity, band together to strengthen their profession.

Who We Are
Babat is led by the Babat Board of Directors and the Executive Director. BABAT’s current President is Dr. Jill Harper. Her vision for Babat, as outlined in her opening address at last year’s conference, is focused on creating a connection between MA behavior analysts where we not only have the opportunity be supported by our state professional organization, but we also have the opportunity to serve in a variety of ways to be a part of this large support system for each other. She has worked to streamline Babat systems, advance Babat initiatives, and inspire both the board and members to serve intentionally. She works in conjunction with Babat Executive Director, Dr. Stacie Bancroft, the Babat Board of Directors (with 18 Directors and Asst. Directors from over 14 distinct affiliations) and over 25 Committee Members (from over 18 distinct affiliations), Babat CEU Coordinator, Kathy Clark, our DEI advisory group, and our environmental sustainability advisory group. Our over 3100 members are practitioners working within and outside of autism services, university faculty, conceptualists, researchers, undergraduates, graduate students, and more.

What We Do
The Babat Conference is held in October of each year, and last year’s conference was a great success. Our hybrid event brought behavior analyst attendees from all across the state, as well as many other states. Over 35 invited speakers traveled from across the US and beyond to join with a wide variety of submitted speakers. We added a new mixer event as well as exercise classes and new networking opportunities. We are striving to meet the needs of today’s research in environmental sustainability, and expanded our communications to members. One of our most exciting advancements over the past year has been the growth in our Professional Practice Committee (the PPC). This committee has provided multiple testimonies at the state house, connected with other advocacy groups, enhanced our efforts with payers, tracked more bills of interest than ever before, and increased involvement with ongoing advocacy efforts across the state that benefit the profession of behavior analysis in Massachusetts.

What We Are Working On
Babat is currently working on some major system changes. We have just completed a transfer from our previous event management firm to joining the Behavior Live platform for all BABAT events. We have also initiated the shift to a new Membership platform which will improve Babat communications, member tracking, and member experience. As part of this effort we are also developing a new Babat website. We are continuing to explore methods to increase student involvement and support, including increasing Babat scholarships for students and doing direct outreach at universities. We want students to learn early the benefits of professional organization membership and understand the responsibility we all bear to participate in something larger than ourselves that works to lift us all to a better place.