Montana ABA

By Traci L. Shinabarger

In 2023, MTABA continued to organize Board and membership structures to better serve our members. MTABA started by updating membership payment options and offering more benefits for members. The Dissemination Committee ramped up efforts to bring training opportunities to members, offering one online training and one in person training. The Membership Committee hosted monthly meet and greets online to discuss articles or topics of interest for Montana behavior analysts. The Policy Committee supported changes at the state level to expand the provision of ABA to children with severe emotional disturbances and supported efforts to reduce licensing fees and clarify supervision rules to align with BACB requirements. Each Committee is chaired by a Board Member and each Board Member is responsible for supporting at least one committee. These committees include members and each committee grew in member participation. In September 2023, the membership voted to fill seats on the Board that were expiring.

The current Board includes:
Ania Young, Past President (2022–2024);
Traci Shinabarger, President (2022–2024);
Bradley Tiefenthaler, President Elect (2022–2024);
Autumn Kostka, Treasurer (2022–2025);
Abi Meyer, Secretary (2022–2025) appointed per Bylaws in 2023 to fill a resignation;
Four members at-large with staggered terms:
Jessica Collins (2022–2025)
Tonya Blaney (2022–2025)
Lisa Jones Park (2022–2025)
Rose Filteau (2023–2026)
Adam Rudolph (2023–2026)

This Board became effective September 9, 2023, at the annual chapter meeting held during the annual conference. The full board meets monthly, and each committee (Membership, Policy, Dissemination, and Conference) meets monthly as well.

The 2023 MT Annual Conference was held in-person in Helena, Montana September 8th and 9th. The conference theme was ACT and ABA through the AIM Model and was presented by Dr. Dixon on both days. Overall, the conference was a success as measured by a post-conference survey of attendees who reported high satisfaction with the quality of the speaker presentation, presentation content, venue, and overall comfort at the conference. Attendees requested OBM, ethics, and supervision for next year’s conference. Dr. Dixon returned for a one-hour follow-up online training on October 2, 2023.

In addition to the annual conference, MTABA sponsored an in-person training event with Dr. Pat Friman in Missoula, MT on June 16, 2023. This event was quickly filled and popular as Dr. Friman covered four hours with multiple topics. Dr. Friman is scheduled to return to Missoula, MT on June 21, 2024 to offer another in person four hour training event. This event will be free to members. The Dissemination Committee is the most active committee again by far in 2023. The committee completed a map of Montana that outlines where ABA providers are located. This will assist both providers and families in locating services. The Committee secured a grant from the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, Developmental Disabilities Program in the amount of $10,000 to offer scholarships for tuition and supervision to individuals in Montana attending or planning to attend an accredited program in pursuit of their BCBA. Twentyfour applications were received. One grant was issued to a current student and two grants are in the process as two additional Montanans return to school. The Dissemination Committee also committed to three trainings, free to members, and one occurred in February on suicide prevention and two additional trainings are planned for March and April.

MTABA continues to grow and support behavior analysis in Montana through trainings, advocacy, and outreach. We are looking forward to continuing our commitment to expanding services, support and education to Montana in 2024.