These answers draw in part from “I Downsized My ABA Company: Tips To Saving Your Company Ethically” by Saundra Bishop, BCBA, CCTP (BehaviorLive), and extend it with peer-reviewed research from our library of 27,900+ ABA research articles. Clinical framing, BACB ethics code references, and cross-links below are synthesized by Behaviorist Book Club.
View the original presentation →The behavior technician shortage is driven by a combination of factors. Low wages relative to the demands of the position make ABA less competitive with other entry-level employment options. The physical and emotional demands of the work, including managing challenging behaviors, contribute to burnout. Limited career advancement opportunities reduce long-term retention. The pandemic accelerated these trends by introducing remote work alternatives in other sectors, raising baseline wage expectations, and creating childcare disruptions that disproportionately affected the workforce available for in-person positions. Additionally, the rapid growth of the ABA industry has outpaced the pipeline of qualified candidates.
Client prioritization during a downsizing should be guided by clinical need rather than financial considerations. Prioritize clients whose needs are most acute, who would face the greatest risk of harm from service disruption, or for whom alternative providers are least available. Consider factors such as the severity of challenging behaviors, the client's current rate of progress and risk of regression, family support resources, and the availability of other providers in the area. Document the rationale for all prioritization decisions. Under Code 3.01, your primary responsibility is to clients, so these decisions must be transparent and clinically justified.
An ethical transition involves several key elements. Provide families with as much advance notice as possible. Prepare comprehensive transition documentation including current treatment plans, recent data, medical and behavioral history, and recommendations for continued programming. Identify receiving providers and facilitate direct communication between your clinical team and the new provider's team. Allow overlap time when possible so the new team can observe current programming. Follow up after the transition to confirm continuity of care. Under Code 2.12, you must make reasonable efforts to facilitate an orderly transition that minimizes disruption to the client.
During a downsizing, remaining staff face increased stress, uncertainty, and potential workload increases. Effective OBM strategies include increasing communication frequency and transparency about the organization's status and plans. Provide enhanced positive reinforcement for maintained performance, as the natural tendency during stressful periods is for management to focus only on problems. Monitor workload distribution to prevent burnout. Involve staff in problem-solving where appropriate, which can increase engagement and ownership. Set clear, achievable short-term goals to replace the uncertainty of the broader situation with concrete targets that staff can work toward and succeed at.
The distinction often comes down to whether the problems are temporary or structural. Operational adjustments can address temporary shortfalls, such as a brief period of difficulty recruiting for a specific position. Downsizing may be necessary when the gap between your operating capacity and your current size is persistent and widening. Key indicators include chronic inability to fill positions despite active recruiting, consistent financial losses over multiple months, declining clinical quality indicators despite intervention, and staff burnout rates that suggest your current pace is unsustainable. If multiple indicators are trending negatively simultaneously, a more significant structural change is likely needed.
While the Ethics Code primarily addresses obligations to clients, professional ethics and good organizational practice require treating departing staff with dignity and respect. Provide as much advance notice as feasible. Be honest about the reasons for the reduction. Offer references and, where possible, assistance in connecting with other agencies that may be hiring. Ensure all final compensation, including accrued leave, is handled correctly and promptly. If staff have supervisory relationships with trainees or accruing fieldwork experience, assist in making arrangements for those relationships to continue with another supervisor. These practices reflect both ethical conduct and practical wisdom.
Communication with families should be honest, timely, and empathetic. Begin by notifying families whose services will be directly affected, providing as much advance notice as possible. Explain the situation clearly without using jargon. Acknowledge the impact on their family and validate their concerns. Provide specific information about what will change and when. For families being transitioned to other providers, share the transition plan and timeline. For families remaining with your agency, explain any changes they can expect. Throughout all communications, emphasize your commitment to supporting continuity of care. Follow up verbal conversations with written documentation.
Yes, when a downsizing brings caseloads into alignment with available resources, service quality for remaining clients can genuinely improve. Many ABA companies operate at or beyond their capacity, which means supervision is stretched thin, technician-to-supervisor ratios are high, and there is little margin for addressing individual client needs that fall outside routine programming. A smaller, appropriately staffed organization can provide more intensive supervision, better treatment integrity monitoring, more frequent program revisions, and more responsive communication with families. The key is ensuring that the downsizing achieves this improved ratio rather than simply distributing the same strain across fewer clients.
Key financial indicators include monthly revenue trends, operating margin (revenue minus all costs divided by revenue), cash reserves expressed as months of operating expenses, accounts receivable aging (how quickly you are collecting payments), and the gap between reimbursement rates and fully-loaded cost per service hour. A particularly important metric is the breakeven point expressed as a number of billable hours needed to cover fixed costs. When your actual billable hours consistently fall below this threshold, the math demands attention. Track these metrics monthly and look for patterns rather than reacting to any single month's results.
Rebuilding should be gradual and data-driven. Before adding capacity, ensure that your current operations are stable, that clinical quality indicators are strong, and that existing staff are not overburdened. When you begin adding clients or staff, do so incrementally and monitor the impact on quality indicators at each step. Focus on building sustainable infrastructure rather than returning to your previous size as quickly as possible. Invest in the workforce retention strategies that the course emphasizes, including competitive compensation, strong supervision, and a positive work environment. The goal is growth that you can sustain, not a return to the conditions that made downsizing necessary.
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I Downsized My ABA Company: Tips To Saving Your Company Ethically — Saundra Bishop · 1 BACB Ethics CEUs · $19.99
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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.