Washington D.C. recorded 49 behavioral health providers in the latest CMS NPI registry weekly update, with 22 of these being new this week. This activity represents 1% of the national total, indicating a focused, albeit smaller, growth trajectory for the district's behavioral health workforce, with a notable surge in recent additions.
ABA Workforce Dynamics
Within the applied behavior analysis (ABA) sector, the data shows 3 RBT credentials and 0 BCBA credentials. The absence of new BCBAs, who are responsible for supervising RBTs, indicates a significant gap in supervisory capacity, which is essential for the ethical and effective delivery of ABA services. No dual BCBA+RBT credentials were recorded this week. The broader behavioral health landscape in D.C. also saw additions across other disciplines, including 2 LGPC credentials and 2 LICSW credentials, among others, demonstrating a varied influx of mental health professionals.
Provider Demographics and Organizations
Of the 40 individual providers, 26 (65%) are female, 13 (33%) are male, and 1 (3%) identifies as nonbinary, reflecting common gender distributions in the behavioral health field. The remaining 9 providers were organizations. No specific organizations appeared multiple times in this week's update, suggesting a diverse and fragmented organizational growth rather than expansion by dominant multi-state chains often seen elsewhere.
This week's data highlights a growing, though diverse, behavioral health workforce in D.C., with a critical need for increased BCBA capacity to support the RBT workforce and expand access to ABA services.
