Women in Public Policy: Creating Large-Scale Change in Behavior Analysis is the kind of topic that looks straightforward until it collides with the speed, ambiguity, and competing demands of clinical documentation, payer communication, supervision records, and leadership review. In Women in Public Policy: Creating Large-Scale Change in Behavior Analysis, for this course, the practical stakes show up in service continuity, accurate reporting, and defensible clinical decisions, not in abstract discussion alone.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via Women in Behavior Analysis
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Join Free →Public policy impacts every profession's ability to practice yet such a small number of behavior analysts regularly engage in public policy work. This presentation will describe the plight of three women in Texas of varied ethnicity and upbringing who choose to be involved in public policy work and the lessons learned. Efforts such as establishing licensure, Medicaid coverage of ABA, insurance reform, and other large-scale efforts in the state of Texas will be reviewed. Strategies for increasing motivation of behavior analyst involvement in public policy work and creating true change makers in the community will be discussed. The unique benefits of representation of women and minorities in public policy leadership roles will also be reviewed.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1.5 | General |
BiographyDr. Berenice de la Cruz, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA has worked with people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities since 2001 in school, home, clinic, and community settings as a teacher, therapist, supervisor, director, and professor. Dr. de la Cruz has extensive experience providing didactic and hands-on training to caregivers, students, and professionals servicing people with disabilities. She received her Ph.D. in 2009 from The University of Texas at Austin in Special Education with a specialization in autism and developmental disabilities, and a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology in 2004 from The University of Texas at El Paso. Dr. de la Cruz became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst in 2006 and a Licensed Behavior Analyst in Texas in 2018, when licensure became available in Texas. She has been an active member of the San Antonio community since 2010, along with her husband and their two children.Dr. de la Cruz has been an Assistant Professor at A&M-SA since 2020. Dr. Berenice de la Cruz is the inaugural Program Coordinator for the Applied Behavior Analysis undergraduate and graduate program in the College of Education and Human Development, which launched in Fall 2022. Before joining A&M-SA, Dr. de la Cruz was an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University’s ABA program and the CEO and owner of an ABA company. Dr. de la Cruz was part of the leadership team since the inception of Autism Lifeline Links (ALL), a coalition of nonprofits aimed at connecting families to services in the community. She regularly presents in English and Spanish at state, national, and international conferences. Dr. de la Cruz has been an Executive Council member for the Texas Association for Behavior Analysis (TxABA) since 2021 and is currently the President of TxABA. She is an Advisory Board member for the TxABA Public Policy Group (PPG). Through the legislative work with TxABA PPG, ALL, and other agencies, licensure was granted by the state of Texas to behavior analysts in 2017. Furthermore, on July 15, 2019, ABA was added as a Medicaid benefit for persons under age 20 with a diagnosis of ASD. Dr. de la Cruz continues to work with TxABA PPG and other groups to ensure that the ABA Medicaid benefit is implemented in a way that is accessible to all families. Dr. de la Cruz has been a board member of the Autism Society of Texas since 2022 and is currently the Secretary. She is a founding member of the Mexican Association for ABA Practitioners (Organización Mexicana de Practicantes de Análisis Conductual Aplicado; OMPAC) and serves on OMPACs ethics committee. Research and PracticeDr. de la Cruzs research and practice focus primarily on advocacy, ethics, and evaluating the application of ABA by parents, teachers, and other professionals to support neurodiverse individuals in the home, school, and community. Public Policy Advocacy. Public policy advocacy is another area of focus of Dr. de la Cruzs research and clinical practice. She has worked with the TxABA PPG since 2016 and serves as an advisory board member. This work has led to legislative changes that have positively impacted the lives of those in Texas. Dr. de la Cruz recently finished her service as co-editor of a special issue on Public Policy Advocacy in Behavior Analysis in Practice. She hopes this work will inform more behavior analysts about how to get involved in public policy advocacy. Currently, she is studying ethical challenges faced by providers servicing individuals with developmental disabilities in Mexico. This information will inform the ethics code in Mexico led by OMPAC.Supporting Professionals and Caregivers. Dr. de la Cruz has been supporting professionals and caregivers for over 20 years. Her research evaluates the application and cultural adaptation of ABA when used by parents/caregivers, teachers, and other professionals to support individuals with developmental disabilities in the home, school, and community. She has conducted a longitudinal study on behavioral consultation in early childhood settings. In 2021, Dr. de la Cruz began to establish partnerships with South Bexar County school districts and A&M-SA to provide ABA training and supervision to school personnel. Dr. de la Cruz is currently collaborating on a research and community grant with the University of Oregon to implement and evaluate a new program that increases support for students with traumatic brain injury. The project seeks to increase support for parents/caregivers, school personnel, and the community and inform legislative action. She and her colleagues developed a curriculum to support parents of early childhood students. Learn more about Traumatic Brain Injury System of Supports. NSF Undergraduate Research Experience on AI and ASD. Dr. de la Cruz is a faculty mentor for a Research Experience for Undergraduate Students funded by the National Science Foundation(NSF). The program is headed by Texas State University in collaboration with Texas A&M-San Antonio to engage undergraduate students in innovative Smart and Connected Health and Communities research. Dr. de la Cruz's project utilizes AI to support conversations in individuals with ASD. Interested students can learn more and apply on the website.
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
279 research articles with practitioner takeaways
252 research articles with practitioner takeaways
239 research articles with practitioner takeaways
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All behavior-analytic intervention is individualized. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice. Treatment decisions should be informed by the best available published research, individualized assessment, and obtained with the informed consent of the client or their legal guardian. Behavior analysts are responsible for practicing within the boundaries of their competence and adhering to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.