Editor's note: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted exclusively to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.
The Ontario government is moving forward on plans to regulate applied behavioural analysis (ABA) therapy, something many autism advocates and service providers have been calling for.
The change will mean the College of Psychologists will add behaviour analysts to its name and scope and, as of July 1, 2024, only practitioners who are registered with the college will be allowed to use the title “behaviour analyst” in Ontario, the college said in a statement.
"The regulation of behaviour analysts is the culmination of years of collaboration between the College of Psychologists of Ontario, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Children Community and Social Services," it said. "The public will benefit from greater access to ABA services and assurance of safe, quality care when receiving services from Ontario’s behaviour analysts."
It will be implemented five years after then-Social Services Minister Todd Smith promised the province would regulate ABA providers. The college gave its regulatory proposal to the government in January.
Cabinet signed off on it late last week amid controversy over arrests at an autism therapy centre outside Barrie, where a convicted sex offender had been living when he and his wife, who owns the Ivy-area centre, were arrested on new charges.
The controversy prompted a renewed call from the Ontario Autism Coalition for the government to move forward on its promise to regulate ABA therapy. The group's president, Alina Cameron, gave an interview with The Trillium blaming the government's handling of autism policy for allowing disreputable providers to spring up across the province while established ones have struggled financially in recent years.
"So you have families who are desperate for care and can't find it, so they might be settling on something that might not be the best option, or shouldn't be an option at all," she said last week.
When providers promise ABA therapy, but their staff isn't adequately trained, "families are paying hundreds of dollars per hour for basically babysitting," said Cameron.
She said the OAC hopes that regulation will prevent a dangerous situation from occurring again and reign in more common problems, such as families being overcharged.
Now that the regulation is coming, Cameron is advising parents to ask their providers if they're planning on registering with the college and, if the answer is no, to consider it a "red flag." Providers can use a self-screening tool to check if they will need to apply for registration through the college.
ABA providers also hailed the move.
"This move is all about increasing public protection and improving the lives of individuals receiving ABA services and their families," said Nancy Marchese, president of the Ontario Association for Behaviour Analysis, who called it "a pivotal moment for the ABA field."
"With the implementation of set standards and increased accountability, we believe regulation will lead to an improvement in the quality of care provided and will support ethical practices."
A spokesperson for Social Services Minister Michael Parsa said regulation will "support families in finding qualified ABA providers and making complaints about ABA providers, if necessary."
"We want families to have confidence that their providers are competent and safe. Strengthening oversight of behaviour analysts who provide Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) services will reduce the risk of harm for Ontarians. That is why the government is proceeding with the work to increase oversight for providers who deliver ABA services in Ontario," Patrick Bissett said in an emailed statement.
"Children, youth and families will benefit from greater access to ABA services and assurance of safe, quality care when receiving services from Ontario’s behaviour Aanalysts. By improving oversight, we are protecting what matters most — our children, youth and vulnerable people."
The same spokesperson had earlier blamed a failure of the justice system, not the government's handling of autism services, for the situation at the Beating the Odds centre.
The province funds ABA therapy for children with autism through the Ontario Autism Program, although the wait-list is 60,000-kids strong and growing, according to documents prepared for Parsa and obtained by The Canadian Press.
"Families can access a range of other OAP services, but most children and youth will not receive core clinical services funding in the short to medium term," the document says.
"More children and youth register for the program than age out each year, which means that the wait-list for core clinical services will continue to grow without further investment."
— With files from The Canadian Press
