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

Is ABA licensed in North Dakota, and under which board

Yes. North Dakota licenses behavior analysts and assistant behavior analysts under N.D.C.C. Chapter 43-64, implemented by rule at N.D. Admin. Code Article 112-05, effective January 1, 2021. The regulator is the Board of Integrative Health Care, created in 2011 under N.D.C.C. Chapter 43-57 to license naturopaths and music therapists; the 2019 Legislative Assembly's Senate Bill 2236 added behavior-analyst professionals to that same board, moving the profession out from under the Board of Psychologist Examiners, which had administered it under N.D.C.C. Chapter 43-32 through December 31, 2019. Anyone relying on an older description naming the Board of Psychologist Examiners should confirm against this 2019-2021 restructuring; the correct current regulator is the Board of Integrative Health Care.

The credential tiers: analyst and assistant

North Dakota licenses two tiers.

The certifying-entity definition

North Dakota defines "certifying entity" generically, not as the BACB exclusively: the rule means "behavior analyst certification board or a certifying entity accredited by the national commission for certifying entities or the American national standards institute" (N.D. Admin. Code § 112-05-01-01(1)). This leaves room for an NCCA- or ANSI-accredited alternative without naming one specifically, similar to the approach several other states in this guide take. North Dakota does not restate the certifying entity's own fieldwork requirements beyond the degree and examination thresholds its own rule sets; it requires current certification, which is where the rest of those requirements live.

What it takes to get licensed, including the state exam

Beyond BACB certification and examination, North Dakota requires its own test: a direct applicant for either tier "has passed the North Dakota professional responsibility examination once developed and approved by the board" (N.D. Admin. Code § 112-05-01-02(1)(d), (2)(c)). This guide could not independently confirm whether this examination is currently being administered; the rule's own conditional phrasing, "once developed and approved," suggests it may not have been operational at every point since the rule's 2021 effective date. Confirm with the board whether the professional responsibility examination is currently required in practice. A grandfather clause exempts anyone who held a valid license from the former Board of Psychologist Examiners as of December 31, 2019 from the full education, experience, and examination requirements (§ 112-05-01-02(3)). An applicant for license by endorsement from another state with substantially similar requirements must complete the BACB's own national examination but is not described in the endorsement rule as needing North Dakota's professional responsibility examination (§ 112-05-01-04).

Title protection, scope, and exemptions

Nine categories are exempt from licensure: students and postdoctoral fellows in a supervised program; unlicensed individuals pursuing BACB-consistent supervised experience; licensed psychologists and their supervisees acting within the psychology scope of practice; other licensed professionals and their supervisees acting within their own scope; lecturers and professors who do not deliver clinical services; individuals providing ABA in a public school setting; behavior technicians working under a licensee's extended authority and direction; family members and caregivers implementing a plan without holding out as licensed; and professionals providing organization-level, non-direct services (N.D. Admin. Code § 112-05-01-14). Each exempt category is conditioned on not representing oneself as a licensed behavior analyst or licensed assistant behavior analyst.

Supervision rules

Students seeking licensure must be supervised by a "qualified supervisor," defined as a licensed behavior analyst in good standing with the board, a licensed or registered psychologist board-certified in behavioral and cognitive psychology who was tested in applied behavior analysis, or an authorized course-sequence instructor providing practicum supervision (N.D. Admin. Code § 112-05-01-06(1)). The supervisor and student "shall develop and sign a written contract at the outset of the supervisory relationship outlining the responsibilities of each party," and both must adhere to the board's code of ethics (§ 112-05-01-06(2)). For an already-licensed assistant behavior analyst, supervision must comply with "current behavior analyst certification board supervision requirements" (§ 112-05-01-02(2)(d)).

Renewal, fees, and continuing education

Licenses renew biennially: "every licensed behavior analyst or licensed assistant behavior analyst ... shall renew the license by remitting a renewal fee on or before November fifteenth of each odd-numbered year" (N.D. Admin. Code § 112-05-01-08(1)). An applicant who receives an initial license after July 1 of an odd-numbered year is automatically renewed the following November 15 without an extra fee. A late renewal (received November 16 or later) requires a new application, the renewal fee, and a late fee; an unrenewed license at 11:59 p.m. on November 15 lapses. Continuing education is a real, state-set requirement: "all active licensees shall complete a minimum of thirty-two hours of approved continuing education credits biennially, including four credits in ethics," with extensions available for illness, military service, or similar extenuating circumstances (§ 112-05-01-10). The board audits a random sample of licensees each biennium for compliance (§ 112-05-01-12). Fees, all nonrefundable: a $50 application fee, a $500 initial license fee (prorated quarterly based on time remaining in the two-year cycle), a $100 temporary license fee (credited toward the initial fee if the applicant proceeds to a full license), a $100 renewal fee, a $75 late-filing fee, and a $25 duplicate-license fee (§ 112-05-01-13).

Getting credentialed with payors

Licensure lets you practice; credentialing lets you bill, and they are separate. After licensure, a provider enrolls with North Dakota Medicaid and credentials with commercial plans, most of which draw provider data from CAQH. Credentialing verifies the license and history and is followed by periodic revalidation. The billing entity and its ownership are disclosed during enrollment, which is where licensing meets the entity and ownership questions covered elsewhere in this guide. What each payor covers and pays for ABA is a separate topic on the Medicaid and insurance page. A sale or expansion in North Dakota turns on more than licensing: the North Dakota sale and expansion guide covers the Medicaid report and the covenant.

North Dakota-specific wrinkles

Three North Dakota features stand out. First, and most consequential for anyone relying on older material: the regulator changed boards entirely in 2019-2021, from the Board of Psychologist Examiners to the Board of Integrative Health Care, the same board that licenses naturopaths and music therapists; a reference to the old board is now stale. Second, North Dakota layers its own state-specific professional responsibility examination on top of BACB certification for direct applicants, though this guide could not confirm the exam is currently operational given the rule's own "once developed and approved" conditional language. Third, a lapsed license requires retaking the BACB's national examination if the licensee has been out of active practice anywhere for two or more years, a meaningfully stricter reactivation standard than most states in this guide impose.

How licensing connects to the rest of your compliance stack

Licensing is the credential the rest of the structure is built around:

• Entity and ownership. North Dakota's corporate-practice doctrine reaches medicine, not the integrative-health-care framework that governs ABA. See the North Dakota entity page and the North Dakota ownership page.
• Medicaid and insurance. Licensure and credentialing are prerequisites to coverage; what is covered and paid is separate. See Medicaid and insurance mandates.
• Facility and records. Supervision documentation carries into facility and HIPAA compliance. See facility licensure and HIPAA.

Becoming licensed and credentialed in North Dakota: the sequence

1. Obtain BACB certification. BCBA or BCBA-D for the analyst tier, BCaBA for the assistant tier, or an NCCA/ANSI-accredited alternative.
2. Apply to the Board of Integrative Health Care. Submit the application, fee, and certification proof; confirm whether the professional responsibility examination is currently administered.
3. Arrange supervision for an assistant. A qualified supervisor and a signed supervision contract, per BACB supervision requirements (N.D. Admin. Code Section 112-05-01-06).
4. Credential with payors. Enroll with North Dakota Medicaid and credential with commercial plans, typically via CAQH, then plan for revalidation.
5. Renew by November 15 of each odd-numbered year. Complete 32 hours of continuing education, including 4 hours of ethics, and keep records for at least two years.

North Dakota licensing variables at a glance

Frequently asked questions