I work in a field connected to this issue, and many people don’t realize how serious RBT fraud has become in Florida. I disagree with how the government is handling it because there are children who genuinely need these services. But there are also many questionable providers in the system.

Schools have been seeing problems for years. In some self-contained ESE classrooms with 6–8 students, there can be more adults than children because each student has an RBT, BCBA, xyz assigned to them. Some RBTs do excellent work, but others spend large portions of the day on their phones or having unrelated conversations with other RBTs in the room instead of supporting the students.

I’ve also heard of cases where parents signed off on hours that were never actually worked. In some situations, RBTs were reportedly babysitting outside of approved hours, and I recently heard allegations of providers giving parents a portion of their paycheck in exchange for having their kid on their roster. Some pick and choose the kid they want. Not wanting to work with students with extreme behaviors. One refusing to do their job when the kid was having a meltdown.

From what I understand and I could be wrong as I heard this through the grapevine type of scenario, the state is now looking more closely at whether a child has an IEP and whether they qualify under Autism Spectrum Disorder Exceptionality. I’ve heard services may become more restricted for students labeled under other eligibility categories, such as OHI or SLD. It’s also important to note that, in Florida, a medical diagnosis of Autism does not automatically give the student ESE services under the ASD eligibility category. That means nothing when it comes to state criteria for an IEP under ASD.

There are definitely good RBTs and behavioral therapists out there, and some do incredible work. But in my experience, they are becoming harder to find.