Arkansas saw 90 behavioral health providers in the latest CMS NPI registry weekly update, with 46 new registrations this week. This represents 1% of the national total, indicating a modest but consistent growth in the state's behavioral health workforce. Of these, 77 were individuals and 13 were organizations, reflecting a mix of independent practitioners and clinic expansions.
ABA Workforce Dynamics
Within the applied behavior analysis (ABA) sector, the data shows 4 BCBA credentials and 26 RBT credentials. It is important to note that these credential categories are not mutually exclusive, as 1 individual holds both BCBA and RBT credentials, often signifying a career path from direct service provider to supervisor. This ratio of 6.5 RBTs for every BCBA highlights a significant number of direct service providers, but also points to a critical need for more BCBA supervisors to ensure adequate oversight and expand ABA service capacity across the state. Other behavioral health credentials included 4 LCSWs and 4 LPCs.
Provider Demographics
The individual provider registrations show a clear gender distribution: 68 (88%) are female, 8 (10%) are male, and 1 (1%) identifies as nonbinary. This aligns with national trends showing a predominantly female workforce in behavioral health. No specific organizations appeared multiple times in this week's new registrations, suggesting a diverse spread of new entities rather than a dominant multi-state employer expanding significantly.
The continued growth, particularly in RBTs, suggests increasing capacity for direct ABA service delivery, but the high RBT-to-BCBA ratio indicates that expanding supervisory capacity will be crucial for sustainable ABA access in Arkansas.
