Provider SCUBA September 2025 Snapshot
Scott’s Completely Unscientific Behaviorist Assessment
⚠️ Methodology Reminder
This isn’t a census. LinkedIn misses many direct care staff, and headcounts can lag actual payroll. State counts come from provider websites, which may not always be current. But across 130+ providers, directional shifts highlight market momentum — which is often more useful than precision.
📈 September 2025 Snapshot – A New Entrant into the Top 20
- Overall growth slowed again: LinkedIn-reported staff counts for the Top 20 rose just ~1.0% in September, a notch below summer’s pace.
- Job postings remain mixed, with some majors pulling back on new requisitions as fall operations stabilize.
- ABA Centers of America officially entered the Top 20, while Acorn Health slipped out.
- This month's Operator Spotlight featured ABA provider InBloom Autism Services and their approach to Clinic-based Scheduling with Theradriver
- View Top 20 ABA provider profiles with commentary here
🚀 Growth slowed for the largest ABA Providers
- Every one of the top 9 ABA Providers each posted their lowest staff monthly increases of 2025.
🌱 Mid-Tier Momentum: SOAR & Yellow Bus
While Action Behavior Centers added 1.7% Month-over-Month (MoM), SOAR and Yellow Bus grew more than 2x faster.
Learn more about how Yellow Bus is scaling in an upcoming Operator Spotlight.
💰 Capital Signals
- Westside Children’s Therapy received an investment led by Brentwood Capital — one of the few meaningful provider deals this year.
- Large-scale ABA M&A remains muted, consistent with the “efficiency over expansion” narrative.
🧩 Alternative Model to ABA (DRBI) gets a capital infusion
- Positive Development received a $51.5M raise. Their focus on the Developmental Relationship-Based Interventions (DRBI) framework represents a different approach to Autism Therapy. Unlike ABA’s labor-heavy staffing model, DRBI relies on parent coaching and lower intensity — a bet some investors see as both scalable and cost-controlling.
If you’re navigating these shifts — whether as a provider, platform, or investor — let’s connect. Interested in keeping pace with Tech, Ops and Data content? Subscribe here
