Who must be licensed to practice ABA in New York, and how do you get credentialed?

Is ABA licensed in New York, and under which agency

Yes, and it has been since 2014. New York licenses Licensed Behavior Analysts and certifies Certified Behavior Analyst Assistants under Article 167 of the Education Law, created by Chapter 554 of the Laws of 2013 and amended by Chapter 8 of the Laws of 2014, with the full law taking effect July 1, 2014 (NYSED Office of the Professions FAQ). The distinctive feature here is the regulator: New York runs ABA licensure through NYSED's Office of the Professions, the same office that licenses all of the state's Title VIII professions, rather than through a psychology, medical, or dedicated behavior-analyst board. A State Board for Applied Behavior Analysis exists, but in an advisory and disciplinary capacity, supporting professional-conduct matters and hearing panels; it does not issue licenses itself.

The credential tiers: LBA and CBAA

Article 167 authorizes two credentials.

Only a person licensed, certified, or exempt under Article 167 may practice applied behavior analysis in New York, and only a licensed or certified person may use the titles "licensed behavior analyst" or "certified behavior analyst assistant" (NYSED Office of the Professions FAQ).

Two routes to the LBA: the degree pathway and the BACB pathway

New York originally built its own education-and-examination standard, independent of BACB certification, requiring a master's or higher degree from a program registered by NYSED or determined substantially equivalent, satisfactory experience, and a passing score on an examination acceptable to the Board and Department (Educ. Law Art. 167; Subpart 79-17). A temporary grandparenting pathway ran from January 10, 2014 to January 9, 2016, letting existing BACB-certified practitioners become licensed without meeting the full standard; that pathway has since expired. Changes to the Education Law that took effect November 22, 2022 created a second, permanent route: an applicant may now apply for the LBA based on certification from an acceptable national certifying body, without separately documenting the degree, experience, and examination requirements of the original pathway (NYSED Office of the Professions, LBA licensure requirements page). Holding BACB certification alone, without applying through either pathway and receiving the New York license, does not satisfy Article 167; the credential must still be converted into the state license.

What it takes to get licensed

Under the standard pathway, an applicant files an application, submits a Certification of Professional Education documenting the required degree, submits a Report of Professional Experience, passes the Board- and Department-acceptable examination, and attests to good moral character (NYSED Office of the Professions licensure-requirements pages). Under the BACB pathway added in 2022, an applicant instead documents current national certification from an acceptable certifying body in place of the separate degree, experience, and examination showings. The fee for licensure and first registration as an LBA is $300, with a $10, non-refundable graduate-permit fee available for applicants completing supervised experience in New York while their application is pending (NYSED Office of the Professions, LBA licensure requirements page).

Title protection, scope, and the Section 8807 exemptions

Since July 1, 2014, only a person licensed, certified, or exempt under Article 167 may practice applied behavior analysis in New York, and only a licensed or certified person may use the LBA or CBAA titles (Educ. Law § 8804 et seq.). Section 8807 carries several exemptions, including for graduates completing supervised fieldwork toward certification under a licensed, New York-registered LBA's supervision, for family and domestic caregivers, and, distinctively, for persons employed or retained by programs licensed, certified, operated, approved, registered, or funded by the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, the Office of Children and Family Services, or the Office of Mental Health, who may perform LBA or CBAA duties in that employment without holding the license, though they may not use the protected titles (Educ. Law § 8807). That OPWDD, OCFS, and OMH exemption was written to sunset, and its status is worth flagging precisely: the original 2013 law set the repeal date at July 1, 2020, a 2020 budget bill extended it to July 1, 2025, and Assembly bill A8479 extended it again, this time to July 1, 2030, signed by the Governor on June 26, 2025 as Chapter 168 of the Laws of 2025 (A8479, 2025 to 2026 Reg. Sess.; NY State Senate bill tracker). The exemption is therefore active through July 1, 2030, not lapsed, but its history of successive short extensions makes it worth checking again as that date approaches.

Supervision rules

A Certified Behavior Analyst Assistant practices under the supervision of a Licensed Behavior Analyst, consistent with Article 167's structure (Educ. Law § 8804 et seq.). Multi-disciplinary teams implementing an ABA plan may include unlicensed members, provided the team includes one or more professionals licensed under Articles 131, 153, 154, 163, or 167 of the Education Law, and provided that unlicensed team members do not perform restricted practices such as creating, modifying, or terminating an ABA plan, diagnosis, patient assessment, or psychotherapeutic treatment (Subpart 79-17). On the Medicaid side, the state's ABA policy manual separately requires LBAs to supervise unlicensed individuals providing behavior-analysis services for a minimum share of the hours those individuals spend delivering services each calendar period (eMedNY Applied Behavior Analysis Policy Manual), a documentation requirement layered on top of, not a substitute for, the Article 167 supervision structure.

Renewal: a license for life, and what that does not mean

New York's LBA and CBAA licenses do not expire in the way most state licenses do; once granted, the license itself is held for life. What does recur is registration: practitioners must maintain a current triennial registration to actively practice, for a $75 registration fee under the statutory fee schedule, even though the underlying license does not need to be reissued (Educ. Law § 8804 et seq.). New York imposes no state-mandated continuing-education requirement for LBAs or CBAAs; practitioners instead follow whichever continuing-education standard their underlying national certification requires to stay current. The distinction matters operationally: a lapsed triennial registration removes a practitioner's authority to practice even though their license has not expired, so registration renewal, not license renewal, is the compliance date to calendar.

Getting credentialed with payors

Licensure lets you practice; credentialing lets you bill, and New York treats them as separate processes like every other state in this guide. New York Medicaid enrollment runs through eMedNY, with its own Applied Behavior Analysis Policy Manual governing provider enrollment, documentation, and the supervision-hour requirement described above; the manual also flags that New York Medicaid does not reimburse for ABA services delivered in a school setting. Commercial-plan credentialing runs separately, typically through CAQH, following the licensed status established under Article 167. As in other states, the billing entity and its ownership are disclosed during enrollment, which is where licensing meets the entity and ownership pillars of this guide.

New York-specific wrinkles

Three features distinguish New York from most states in this guide. First, the regulator is NYSED's general professions office, not a health board, which shapes both the culture of the license, closer to a teaching or accounting credential than a medical one, and its procedural mechanics. Second, New York built its own degree-and-exam standard well before BACB certification became the near-universal state default elsewhere, and only added the BACB pathway in 2022, so practitioners licensed under the original standard and those licensed under the newer BACB pathway can have materially different training backgrounds despite holding the same title. Third, the license-for-life structure with only triennial registration is unusual nationally and is easy to under-track precisely because there is no license expiration date creating urgency, the registration date is the one that matters.

How licensing connects to the rest of your compliance stack

The license is the credential the rest of the structure is built around:

• Entity and ownership. New York's strict same-profession ownership rule for professional entities under Article 167 licensure means the licensed behavior analyst anchors ownership in a way several other states in this guide do not require. See the New York entity page and the New York ownership page.
• Medicaid and insurance. Licensure and eMedNY enrollment are prerequisites to New York Medicaid billing; what is covered and paid is a separate question. See Medicaid and insurance mandates.
• Facility and records. Supervision documentation for CBAAs and unlicensed staff carries directly into facility and HIPAA recordkeeping. See facility licensure and HIPAA.

Becoming licensed and credentialed in New York: the sequence

1. Choose a pathway to the LBA. The original degree, experience, and examination route, or the BACB-certification pathway available since November 22, 2022.
2. Apply to NYSED's Office of the Professions. Submit the application, required forms, and the $300 fee for licensure and first registration.
3. Arrange CBAA and unlicensed-staff supervision. An LBA must supervise CBAAs consistent with Article 167, and unlicensed staff for the Medicaid-required share of service hours.
4. Enroll with New York Medicaid through eMedNY. A separate process from licensure, governed by the state's ABA Policy Manual.
5. Credential with commercial plans. Typically via CAQH, following the licensed status established at step two.
6. Track triennial registration, not a license expiration date. The license itself does not expire, but an active triennial registration is required to practice.

New York licensing variables at a glance

Frequently asked questions