Initiatives
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At Project ABA Rights, we are advocating for essential changes at both the state and local levels to ensure that children with autism have access to the life-changing support of ABA therapy in public schools.
We understand that public schools face funding constraints and often do not have the resources to provide ABA therapy directly through Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). That’s why our focus is on ensuring that private ABA providers (PIP)—the therapists who are already paired with and bonded to students—can be fully integrated into the school setting. This way, parents can fill the gap and bring in their child’s therapist to work in the classroom, providing the critical one-on-one support they need without placing additional strain on the school’s resources.
We’ve created a petition to urge lawmakers to make the necessary changes to Florida’s statutes to remove barriers to ABA therapy in schools. Your support is crucial—please sign and share our petition to help us bring about these much-needed changes for children across the state.
State-Level Advocacy: Clarifying Statute 1003.572
In 2013, SB1108 passed, specifying that private instructional personnel should be permitted to provide services in public schools. However, when HB255 passed in 2022, adding Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs) to the list of approved ABA providers, the language in the statute remained vague and left too much discretion to school principals, creating inconsistencies in access across districts.
This ambiguity is causing chaos across Florida, with some schools denying ABA services entirely, even though the therapy is prescribed by medical professionals, covered by health insurance, and gifted to schools for FREE by parents. The current statute allows principals to decide the time and location for ABA services, but this lack of clarity often results in ABA being denied altogether.
We are working to amend Florida Statute 1003.572 to:
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Remove the "up to the principal's discretion" clause and ensure clear guidelines for implementing ABA therapy.
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Define the educational setting to include the classroom during instructional time, ensuring students have access to ABA therapy where they spend the majority of their day
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Clarify how therapy hours will be scheduled, ensuring that decisions are made collaboratively taking into account therapy hours recommended by medical professionals.
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Require school districts to implement clear policies and procedures for ABA services in compliance with the statute.
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Establish consequences for districts that fail to comply with the law.
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Ensure that reasonable therapy hours recommended by medical professionals are honored in the school setting.
This amendment is crucial for ensuring that parents—not principals—have the final say on their child's healthcare and educational support, in accordance with the Parents' Bill of Rights. Most importantly, this change does not require any additional funding or resources from the schools, as ABA services are already covered by health insurance and provided at no cost to the district.
We are seeking support from lawmakers to sponsor this critical amendment
Local-Level Advocacy: Working with local School Boards
At the local level, we are working directly with school districts to ensure that students with autism and other special needs have access to private ABA therapy (PIP) in schools. We recognize that schools may not have the resources or funding to hire in-house ABA therapists or to provide ABA therapy through an Individualized Education Program (IEP). However, parents can fill the gap by bringing in their child’s private ABA provider—a professional who is already bonded with and comfortable working with their child. This arrangement ensures that the child receives the critical support they need without placing additional financial burden on the school district.
Our advocacy efforts at the local level include:
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Encouraging collaboration between schools and private ABA providers to ensure that students receive the necessary support from professionals who know their needs and have built a relationship with them.
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Advocating for policy changes to ensure that district policies support the inclusion of private ABA therapists in the school setting and remove barriers that prevent these providers from working directly with students.
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Ensuring compliance with existing laws by holding school principals accountable for following the law and ensuring that private ABA therapy is consistently and appropriately provided across all schools in the district.
Through these efforts, we are working to ensure that every child who requires ABA therapy has access to the support they deserve in the classroom, without placing additional strain on school resources. This is about collaboration, not replacement—ensuring that children continue to receive the best care possible, tailored to their unique needs.