Our CEO, Dr. Karen R. Wagner, is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, and has a Ph.D. in Education with a focus in Special Education and Applied Behavior Analysis. She is an adjunct instructor for the UMASS Lowell online  Behavioral Interventions in Autism Behavior Analysis program  a Trustee for the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies  an active member of the District 7 Local Review Committee; a member of the PRC for Carleton Palms in Mt. Dora; a past-president of the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis  and is a frequent presenter nationally and internationally on topics relating to behavior analysis, education, and technology. Our recent endeavor, TheBehaviorAnalyst.com, provides behavior analysis CEUs in an easy-to-use online format

Our Program Director, Marta “Tiki” Fiol is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and an alumni of the Master’s Program in Applied Behavior Analysis at the Florida Institute of Technology.She is an active member of the District 7 Local Review Committee and is ABD in the Public Affairs program at the University of Central Florida.

Our Operations Manager, Rex Tychan, brings a wealth of experience to our program, including managerial positions in private industry and prior military experience in Health Services Management.

B. Willene Burch , is our HR Manager. She has a wealth of experience in HR law, Payroll law, and has extensive HR experience in many industries including aviation and insurance.

Our Social Services Development Manager is R. Renee Rich.  She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with many years of experience in the field of Child Welfare

About Us -

Professional & Paraprofessional Staff

Our staff are highly trained and committed to providing the best services possible.

All staff are trained in “Tools for Positive Behavior Change” a curriculum developed for children in foster care and those who are at risk for abuse. The tools focus on preventing unwanted behavior while emphasizing desired behaviors. These tools were developed based on the principals of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and the work of Dr Glenn Latham, and are equally effective with all children, adolescents, and adults, including those with identified disabilities.

Staff are also trained in Professional Crisis Management (PCM). This system of intervention also focuses upon preventing unwanted or dangerous behavior, but provides methods to intervene when consumer behaviors become dangerous to themselves or others.

Additionally, staff receive frequent feedback and opportunities for professional development.

Our Certified Staff

Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA)— These practitioners have a Master’s degree or a Ph.D., plus they have taken a minimum of five graduate classes in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and completed an internship supervised by an experienced Board Certified Behavior Analyst. In Florida, for those working with individuals through the state Agency for Persons with Disabilities, there is an additional distinction of certification level. It is based on experience, regardless of the graduate degree.

Level I—Less than 3 years experience as a BCBA

Level II—Three years or more experience as a BCBA

Board Certified assistant Behavior Analysts (BCaBA) - Is a new identification for a certification that was previously called Board Certified Associate Behavior Analyst (BCABA). This certification requires a minimum of a bachelor’s degree (although some have a graduate degree) and three classes in ABA, also with an internship supervised by a BCBA. BCaBAs who are actively seeking certification as a BCBA may also be referred to as CBA Interns.

Florida Certified Behavior Analysts - (FLCBA-e, FLCBA, and FLCABA) - Are certifications that are still recognized within the state of Florida. These practitioners were certified as early as the 1980s, and have maintained their certification since then. These practitioners have chosen not to transfer their certification. Although FLCBA-e certificants have a minimum of a Master’s degree, and FLCABAs have a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree, FLCBA could have a high school diploma, a Bachelor’s degree, or a graduate degree.

Our Non-Certified Staff

Interns can be anyone with a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree (or whose undergraduate degree includes classes in behavior analysis), who is actively pursuing certification in behavior analysis at some level. Actively pursuing certification is defined as having started the first ABA class in a program approved by the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB), and following all of the rules for clinical supervision as defined by the board. If a potential intern has experience prior to the first class it CANNOT be used as internship experience for certification, even if the experience was obtained at an agency or facility meeting criterion as an internship site. The EXCEPTION to this rule are BCaBAs who are seeking certification as BCBAs. In this case, their internship for certification as a BCaBA is applied to the internship requirements for BCBA. Interns without certification are classified for billing purposes using criterion outlined below. Interns are permitted to use the title of “Intern”, or their billing title.

Behavior Aides, Assistants and Specialists—These staff have a high school diploma, but many also have college degrees, even graduate degrees. Some have worked in the field for many years, while others are newcomers to behavior analysis.

Behavior Aides are new to the field, Behavior Specialists have at least two years of experience working with individuals with behavior challenges.

Behavior Assistants work in-home and in the community without direct supervision. They have the same training as Aides and Specialists, but have demonstrated their ability to implement programming consistently with minimal, or no, direct supervision. Behavior Assistants typically work in conjunction with a BCBA or a BCaBA, implementing behavior programming in between visits.