This past year has been a very active one for the Board of Directors and Committee Chairs of FABA. With many new initiatives and professional activities to be carried out, the board held monthly virtual meetings throughout this year, in addition to the quarterly in-person meetings that are typically held. Our Public Policy Committee (PPC) held weekly meetings throughout much of the year in order to accomplish important tasks related to legislative and public policy issues in our state. Through the efforts of their newly created workgroups, the PPC addressed matters that impacted all behavior analysts, including those working with APD, Medicaid, the Department of Justice, and public schools. Through their dedicated efforts, FABA’s public policy committee and lobbyist Eric Prutsman helped pass legislation for an updated RBT bill that expanded access to services for students in public schools. The PPC continued to advocate for changes to AHCA's proposed Medicaid policy through legal challenges approved by the board. Advocacy efforts have continued throughout the year with board members and public policy committee leaders providing formal input on state policy proposals through in-person meetings and written correspondence. Our first FABA Town Hall meeting was held by the APD workgroup on June 23rd to discuss adult services in the APD state system. A second Town Hall is being held by the Education workgroup on September 22nd to discuss ABA provider collaboration between home and school settings. The plan is to begin hosting regular Town Hall meetings as well as specialized mentorship sessions throughout the year for our FABA members.
At the start of the year, the executive committee completed a reorganization of the association to outline new roles and responsibilities for board members. As part of the changes, The FABA board has contracted with Behavior Live to handle the job of conference management, working closely with the Program Committee. A new Executive Director, Dr. Missy Olive, was hired in early May and a new early career Member-at-Large position was added for this year’s election cycle. A new volunteer system was created that allows members to formally apply to be a volunteer on one of several board committees. With increased activities happening across many committees, we will need the help of our members to get the best and most timely outcomes on initiatives that affect our profession. Here’s a summary of what some of our committees have been up to this year: FABA’s DEIA Committee led the effort to put out a formal commitment statement by FABA and has been active in bringing important initiatives that are being integrated across all board practices. Committee members have held meetings with BABA leadership to build increased collaboration and engagement. The Local Chapter Committee planned and executed another successful CoFABA conference and added two new local chapters in the state, one in Gainesville and one in southwest Florida (Lee & Collier counties). Individual chapters have held continuing education, community, and social events. CoFABA officers have also begun formal training on legislative processes to prepare for the next licensure push. The newly named Social Media & Communications Committee (SMC) Chairs have revamped how FABA is connecting with their members and brought us more interaction with followers from across the state. The SMC chairs will be working with some recently vetted volunteers to bring an updated version of the FABA Observer by the beginning of next year. FABA’s Membership Committee has been working to develop a strategic plan for growing membership through more targeted efforts and providing ideas for more meaningful tracking of membership data. The Program Committee has undergone a transition this year with the addition of the Behavior Live conference management company and will be bringing some exciting changes to this year’s conference. Finally, the Board of Directors spent time assessing necessary changes to our Constitution and put forth a set of proposed changes to the membership that will be voted on at this year’s Business Meeting. The FABA Board of Directors will continue to work hard on behalf of our members and those that we serve. Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].
