BACB Certification Trends: State of the States (1999 to 2014).

Since the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) was officially created in 1998 (Shook, 2005), the number of individuals certified by the BACB has grown significantly, particularly in the USA. Some states have witnessed a steady growth in the number of certificants, whereas others have witnessed exponential growth. Many factors could account for these overall growth patterns, including (a) geographic variations in distribution of certificants across states, (b) the passage of autism insurance reform laws or state licensing laws that influence the professional practice of applied behavior analysis (ABA) services, and (c) the presence of major academic or practicum training programs. This report documents the growth and geographic distribution of Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) and Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts (BCaBAs) from 1999 to 2014 and also discusses some of the factors that might have influenced the documented growth patterns.