South Dakota added 16 behavioral health providers in the latest CMS NPI registry update, representing 0% of the national weekly total. This small influx is typical for a state with a smaller population, indicating a measured, rather than rapid, expansion of its behavioral health workforce. All 16 providers were new enrollments this week.
ABA Workforce Composition
Among the new providers, the ABA specific credentials include only 1 Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) and no Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs). There were also no providers with dual BCBA and RBT credentials. The complete absence of BCBAs among this week's additions is a critical observation for the ABA industry, as BCBAs are essential for supervising RBTs and providing advanced clinical services. This suggests a significant gap in new supervisory capacity for ABA services within the state from this week's data.
Provider Demographics
Of the 16 new providers, 9 are individuals and 7 are organizations. The individual provider demographic data shows a strong female representation, with 8 individuals, or 89%, identifying as female. There were no male providers and 1 nonbinary provider, accounting for 11%. No specific organizations appeared multiple times in this week's update, indicating a diverse range of new entities rather than expansion from existing chains.
The current data, particularly the lack of new BCBAs, suggests that South Dakota faces ongoing challenges in expanding its ABA workforce and ensuring adequate supervisory capacity for direct service providers.
