Earning a Certificate of Completion from Registered Behavior Technician Training providers will prepare you for passing the BACB exam. Also called ABA technicians, RBTs are entry-level paraprofessionals who apply fundamental behavior practices developed over 40 years ago by Drs. Ivar Lovaas and Robert Koegel to improve social functioning. Registered Behavior Technicians are equipped to treat children or adolescents with ASD, ADHD, OCD, GAD, bulimia, self-mutilation, and other conditions. RBTs learn the behavior analytical methods to function competently in school, clinical, and social service settings under supervision.
When the Behavior Analyst Certification Board launched the RBT credential in 2015, they created a 40-hour training mandate. Each prospective RBT must be at least 18 years old with a high school diploma equivalent before undertaking this training. Registered Behavior Technicians must submit to a felony-free criminal background registry check. Sponsoring BCBA certificants are required to file a RBT Competency Assessment form on candidates’ behalf. The RBT credential also includes a 75-question, multiple-choice proctored exam.
By state, the following are in-person Registered Behavior Technician Training providers that can help fulfill these requirements. (Prefer online training? We have that covered, too: Online Registered Behavior Technician Training Providers)
Featured Programs
Alabama
Madison Behavior Therapy
Established in 2013 by Lindsay Chapman, BCBA, Madison Behavior Therapy is a private, COEBO-credentialed autism clinic with locations in Madison and Huntsville to provide Alabama children with 10-30 hours of treatment weekly. Each summer, Madison ABA also delivers a three-week Registered Behavior Technician Training workshop for teachers and school district staff to become RBTs. Madison Behavior Therapy’s BCBA consultants will remain with graduates to supervise their functional assessments and behavior intervention plans.
California
B.E.S.T. Autism Services, Inc.
Headquartered in El Cajon, B.E.S.T. Autism Services, Inc. has grown since 1998 to serve children from San Diego County to North Carolina and southeastern Virginia as a licensed, ABA therapy center directed by Norah L. Wilson, BCBA-D. Candidates with a high school diploma and BLS certification who apply for B.E.S.T. careers complete the Registered Behavior Technician Training program in two weeks. Drawing from 75+ years of combined experience, the agency ensures RBTs meet supervision requirements.
Connecticut
Strong Foundations
Owned by Aydrien Cathcart, BCBA, Strong Foundations is a private, PreK-12 autism treatment facility offering a 1:1 setting for individualized Tolland County programming in Vernon. Featured on Autism Speaks, the ABA center offers a 40-hour Registered Behavior Technician Training program among its Connecticut school district support services too. Paraprofessionals with at least one year of experience with children will develop the capacity for reinforcing behavior analytic approaches in-person for BACB certification.
Florida
Hollywood Career Institute
Graded A+ by the Better Business Bureau, the Hollywood Career Institute is a private, for-profit CEU provider recognized by the Florida Department of Education since 2013 that specializes in vocational certification prep. In Hollywood, the Behavioral Health Technician Training program includes English or Spanish daytime and evening courses to earn the CBHT credential. The 30-hour HCI program requires modules on ethics, patient confidentiality, and clinical competence for a median starting wage of $16/hour.
Arc Broward
Given the CARF Aspire to Excellence seal, Arc Broward is a small, nonprofit developmental disability center headed by president Dennis Haas in Sunrise, Florida, to serve 1,200 families with 21 programs, including ABA therapy. Arc Educates offers a two-day Registered Behavior Technician Course at the Broward Learning Institute on consecutive Saturdays year-round. The $250 program includes skill competency workshops, role-playing scenarios, practice tests, and even working lunches with a low instructor-participant ratio.
Omega Behavioral Consulting, Inc.
Partnered with Broward County Early Steps, Omega Behavioral Consulting, Inc. is a private, ABA intervention center founded by Florida State University alum Sabrina Omega, BCBA, to treat autism, PDD-NOS, ADHD, and speech delays. Each May, OBC supports entry-level specialists by providing the 40-hour Registered Behavior Technician Training program face-to-face in Tarmac. Applicants must send their résumé before entering the two live classes, completing three direct observation sessions, and accessing online practice quizzes.
Hawaii
Leeward Community College
Ranked America’s 100th best vocational school on Niche, Leeward Community College is a public, open-admission commuter campus opened in 1968 in Pearl City that’s now educating 6,200 undergrads with 196 full-time faculty. The Office of Continuing Education & Workforce Development has created a 40-hour Registered Behavior Technician course with a hybrid blend of on-campus and online sessions. Preparing for the Pearson RBT exam, Leeward instructors cover the core tasks of measurement, assessment, behavior reduction, and documentation for $120.
Kansas
TASN Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports
Located in the Landon State Office Building in Topeka, the Kansas Technical Assistance System Network (TASN) is funded via IDEA Part B to support the staff at all 284 Sunflower State school districts. The Autism and Tertiary Behavior Supports team specifically offers the 40-hour Registered Behavior Technician Training program to those enrolling on Moodle. Three BCBA instructors, Janine Kesterson, Pam Scharping, and Peggy VonFeldt, guide paraprofessionals aged 18+ through strategies for addressing developmental behavior delays.
Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts Boston
Accredited by the NEASC, the University of Massachusetts Boston is the system’s third-largest public, land-grant research center endowed for $78.9 million to educate 16,847 Beacons in-person on its 120-acre campus atop Columbia Point. The College of Advancing and Professional Studies started offering the 40-hour Registered Behavior Technician Training course to learn behavior analytic methods for youth with autism. Taught by James T. Ellis, BCBA, the program meets each Tuesday evening until the competency-based capstone assessment.
Featured Programs
Michigan
Novel Responses, Inc.
Serving Southwest Michigan since 2004, Novel Responses, Inc. is a privately held wellness clinic conceived by Amy Macfarlane, BCBA, in Portage that’s grown to employ 50+ certified consultants for home-based positive behavior reinforcement. The Clinical Training Department offers parents, school staff, and community members the 40-hour Registered Behavior Technician Training workshop independently from the BACB. Novel Responses teaches adults with HS diplomas or GEDs to support ongoing behavioral changes along with a free Understanding Autism course.
University of Michigan Dearborn
Started in 1956 by Archie Pearson, the University of Michigan Dearborn ranked as the Midwest’s sixth best public, coeducational college that’s endowed for $30.29 million to enroll 9,193 Wolverines at its 200-acre suburban campus in Metro Detroit. The College of Education, Health, & Human Services has BCBAs conferring a 45-hour Registered Behavior Technician Training course with exam preparation for $190. Fees are waived if paraprofessionals subsequently enroll for the Applied Behavior Analysis M.S.
New Hampshire
Antioch University New England
Affiliated with Millennium Project co-founder Jerome Clayton Glenn, Antioch University New England is a private, health-focused UArctic graduate school opened in 1964 with HLC accreditation that’s educating 1,200 students in Keene. The Division of Continuing Education Programs grants a 40-hour, three-credit Behavior Technician Competencies course for aspiring RBTs to acquire behavior reduction skills. Delivered by Dennis P. Bradley, BCBA, from the Crotched Mountain School, the course meets on Thursday evenings starting each January for $330.
New Jersey
The COR Behavioral Group
Partnered with KV Adaptive, The COR Behavioral Group follows the motto “Feel Better, Do Better” as a cutting-edge ABA therapy and early intervention agency with facilities in Hasbrouck Heights, Closter, Paramus, Glen Rock, Ridgewood, and Cedar Grove. COR Behavioral Group’s whole-person approach rolls over into its Registered Behavior Technician Training workshop and Type 2 BACB continuing education. Taught by Kimberly Mitchell, BCBA, the in-person, 40-hour program costs $150 to practice professional conduct for implementing treatment plans.
South Carolina
Piedmont Technical College
Featuring a 20:1 student-faculty ratio with 6,171 enrolled, Piedmont Technical College is a two-year, publicly funded “Gateway to Success” that’s graded C+ by Niche to serve South Carolinians at Greenwood, Abbeville, Edgefield, Clinton, McCormick, and Saluda campuses. The Continuing Education Office charges $595 total for completing the 40-hour Registered Behavior Technician Training course with Niki Porter, BCBA. Starting in March, the 12-week workshop welcomes two dozen paraprofessionals into Tuesday night meetings with full scholarships available.
Tennessee
Advanced Behavior Consultants
Launched in December 2011, Advanced Behavior Consultants is an independent ABA therapy center directed by UNT graduate Curtis J. Marris, BCBA, with in-home services for children aged 1-21 in Clarksville and Fort Campbell. Candidates for the ABC team must have a bachelor’s degree, 3.0 GPA or higher, and an 18-month commitment before taking their Registered Behavior Technician Training workshop. Paying trainees $15/hour, the performance-based program includes video modeling, role-playing, and skill observation for three weeks of 20 hours each.
Texas
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Classified as a public, Hispanic-serving research institute, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is ranked America’s 114th best big college on Niche for serving 28,584 Vaqueros at six locations along the Mexican border. In McAllen, the Division of Continuing Education lets non-degree seeking students enter the 40-hour RBT Training course for $799 total. Instructed by Cheryl Fielding, BCBA-D, a Distinguished Teaching Award winner, the evening program spans 27 topics from mimetic behavior to antecedent interventions.
University of Texas at San Antonio
Ranked the 174th best Southern college by Forbes, the University of Texas at San Antonio is a public, coeducational Oak Ridge member of the AASCU that’s endowed for $143.2 million to enlighten 30,674 Roadrunners on its 725 acres in Alamo City. The UTSA Extended Education Office and Autism Research Center collaborate for the 42-hour Registered Behavior Technician Training. Taught by Lee Mason, PhD, the five-week course bills $349 total for in-class modules and skill application exercises aligned to BACB task lists.
Virginia
Commonwealth Autism
Budgeting $4 million, Commonwealth Autism is a nonprofit, BBB-accredited charity exceeding the COEBO Standards for Excellence to partner with 17 public school districts and provide 480+ professional development hours each year. In Richmond, the Commonwealth’s Learning Institute offers the Summer RBT Academy dedicated to ABA treatment implementation for $450. Headed by Christine Holland, BCBA, the dynamic in-person, 40-hour training lasts six weeks starting in early July for school staff to become Registered Behavior Technicians.
Multiple States
Butterfly Effects
Owned by Moran Capital Partners, LLC, Butterfly Effects is a leading, private autism treatment solutions provider founded in 2004 that’s employing 500+ ABA employees across 10 states and nearly 40 markets from its Deerfield Beach headquarters in Florida. For free, new hires can enter Butterfly Effects’ Registered Behavior Technician Training program in-person or online. Approved by the BACB and ASHA, the 40-hour workshop ensures “Super Butterflies” have the communication, assessment, and intervention skills for ethical practice with kids under 21.
Individuals hoping to enter the RBT Registry may prefer in-person workshops for interactive skill development, close interaction with peers, and immediate feedback from BCBA certificants. If you reside within the above states, check out these in-person Registered Behavior Technician Training providers with a track record of successful exam prep.
See also: Overview of ABA Certification
