The Behavior Analyst Certification Board has announced the standards for a new credential for Registered Behavioral Technicians
“The BACB is pleased to announce the standards for the BACB’s newest credential – the Registered Behavior Technician™ (RBT™) … the BACB’s Board of Directors authorized the development of this new credential to establish training standards for behavior technicians, the paraprofessionals who implement behavior plans directly with clients. In recent years, the number of behavior technicians has grown along with the demand for quality applied behavior-analytic services. This growth, along with requests to identify and evaluate standards for behavior technicians by regulatory and funding stakeholders, firmly establishes the need for the new credential.
The RBT credential will complement the BCBA-D, BCBA, and BCaBA credentials as an entry-level program that reflects the education and training necessary for the duties of a behavior technician. Whereas individuals with the BCBA and BCBA-D credentials are generally responsible for service-delivery oversight, and individuals with the BCaBA credential generally operate in a position assisting these supervisors, individuals with the RBT credential will be responsible for implementing, not designing, the behavior plans designed by their supervisors.”
This new credential will give consumers an additional tool to evaluate the quality of services offered by an ABA provider by setting minimum standards for training and competencies for the paraprofessionals in the field of behavior analysis. Consumers will be able to check the website to see if a paraprofessional is an RBT, and which BCBAs or BCaBAs supervise them. There is an annual renewal, which requires the RBT to get re-tested in the competencies. Consumers are encouraged to ask their ABA provider if they will have their front line paraprofessionals obtain the RBT when applications become available in mid-2014.
To learn more about the RBT credential, see the BACB website, www.bacb.org.