Connecticut ABA – 2025 Annual Report – Inside Behavior Analysis

By Elizabeth Smith

The Connecticut Association of Behavior Analysts (CTABA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the development and advancement of the field of behavior analysis within the state of Connecticut through research, education, and dissemination of information. We held our 21st annual conference at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Connecticut on February 28, 2025. CTABA is pleased to share our progress from last year and plans for the next. Our newly appointed Executive Director, Margaret Fitch, has just begun her three-year term and has quickly stepped into this role with dedication to her responsibilities. CTABA holds annual elections to the BOD in February, with the term to begin at our Conference; to which we welcomed five Directors to the Board. Three Directors will be transitioning off the Board, including President Elizabeth Smith, as term limits have been met. For 2025-2027, Amy Lavoie will serve as President of CTABA, with Erica Bauer serving as Secretary, and Ruel Dixon continuing his work as Treasurer.

In order to effectively continue the work of CTABA, we have identified several goals for the CTABA BOD: (1) Create standard operating procedures (SOP) to collect annual data on CTABA’s key performance indicators; (2) Implement SOPs for communications with members, potential members, and/or consumers; (3) create and ensure systems to ensure Committee/SIG/Task Force objectives are met for completion of objectives, and (4) Ensure all BOD has awareness, access, and agreement to the above SOPs by identifying the current acting permanent products.

Our 21st annual conference was once again a sold-out event, with 533 attendees participating in the full conference and 116 attendees in workshops (held the day prior). We received overwhelming positive feedback regarding the content of our invited speakers, Dr. Mark Dixon, Dr. Andy Bondy, and Liat Sacks, BCBA. Our Conference Committee strives to ensure that our events are successful and provides continuing education opportunities for members, associate members (including RBTs, students, consumers, and direct care staff) and non-members to access our events, and the content of our speakers is diverse and offers relevant information to all attendees. This year, we offered additional workshops (6 sessions/21 CE credits); as well as a total of 15 presentations during the Conference. We offered a total of 16 CEUs during the Conference: Ethics (4.5); Supervision (4); and general CE (7.5) Our Organizational Members & Sponsorship Committee helps ensure that our local agencies and supporters are well represented and able to access networking opportunities. This year, we honored 21 Organizational Members and had new interest in sponsorships!

Our Equity and Inclusion Committee (formerly DISJ) has been tremendously supportive in its mission to increase the representation and diversity of our practitioners, as well as provide increased access for consumers of services with high quality, equitable and inclusivity. CTABA continues to implement a required Diversity training for the Board of Directors each summer at our annual retreat, which has been extremely beneficial and constructive to our standards. This year, a focus was on increasing accessibility options. The EI Committee began a Scholarship Fund this year for a Connecticut resident needing financial assistance for their continuing education. Future applicants should be accepted or enrolled in BCaBA or BCBA certificate program, ABA degree program, degree program with ABA focus or BACB approved degree program.

Our Public Policy and Legislative Outreach (PPLO) Committee continues to increase awareness of behavior analysis in the state. The CTABA PPLO committee has advocated for issues with the Department of Insurance and Department of Social Services, as well as the states’ Medicaid plans, with positive results, such as a raise to Medicaid rates. This upcoming legislative session is requiring review and advocacy for several bills on the table; in which CTABA is submitting testimony to support ABA and BCBAs in the state.

CTABA’s Membership committee has also demonstrated commitment to our mission in representing behavior analysts in our state. Our current membership has grown to 870 members, which is a 16.6% increase from membership at this time last year. We seek to ensure we are representing the interests of practicing behavior analysts in our state. CTABA also has 21

Organizational Members renewed for this year. We are pleased with our growth in membership

and will continue to seek ways to support our Professional and Associate Members in 2023!

CTABA has had a productive and successful year, and we look forward to continuing our growth

in collaboration with our affiliate partners in 2025 and beyond.