Pennsylvania ABA

By James Chok

The Pennsylvania Association for Behavior Analysis (PennABA) is pleased to share our annual update.

Mission and Vision
PennABA seeks to promote high-quality behavior analysis in the region, maintain the scientific integrity of the discipline, and advocate on behalf of behavior analysts and consumers of behavior analysis.

History
PennABA was incorporated in 1998. Richard Foxx and William Helsel saw a need to support behavior analysis in the state of Pennsylvania. In 2000, Richard Kubina chaired a meeting at the ABAI annual convention to help elect PennABA’s first set of officers. With the creation of PennABA, service providers, teachers, students, and families in Pennsylvania gained a resource that fosters the application and growth of behavior analysis.

PennABA Updates
Nicole Mastromatto, MA, BCBA, is now the secretary for PennABA as Melinda Desmaris, MA, BCBA has transitioned out of this role. We thank Melinda for her years of service for PennABA, including all of the hard work she put into conference planning and making sure the event was a rewarding experience for all that attended.

Jonathan Ivy, Ph.D., BCBA-D, continues to lend his effort and talents to PennABA as the director of Planning and Development. Keith Williams, Ph.D., has now transitioned full-time into the Executive Director and Treasurer role for PennABA. Richard Foxx, Ph.D., retired from his position. Our Executive Council would like to thank Dr. Foxx for establishing PennABA and for all of his years of service to the organization and the field at-large. His graciousness welcoming new members to PennABA and hosting all of our guest speakers over the years will be remembered fondly. It will not be the same without him.
PennABA’s operations were disrupted this past year by the Covid-19 pandemic. In lieu of holding an in-person conference, PennABA hosted 2 free webinars for our members and non-members who were interested in attending. These continuing education webinars were a big success with over 500 attendees at each meeting. PennABA plans to offer more free webinars in the upcoming year for CEUs.

PennABA is also planning a virtual Executive Council Meeting, followed by a meeting with our membership to discuss future initiaitives. We are excited and supportive of the legislative efforts to license behavior analysts in the state of Pennsylvania. The licensing bill was recently approved by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the PA licensure committee, and will be reviewed next by the PA Senate, and governor for approval.

Closing
PennABA will continue to serve behavior analysts and consumers of behavior analysis in the region through continuing education and advocacy. We thank the members of PennABA, whose continued support is integral to all that PennABA has accomplished.