The Apprentice Model 2.0: Enhancement of the Apprentice Model

There are not enough board certified behavior analysts (BCBAs) with specialization in the treatment of individuals with autism to meet the growing patient demand for applied behavior analysis (ABA) treatment. In addition, there are no streamlined, organization-led fieldwork supervision systems to aid in the professional development of Trainees to meet this need. This article describes enhancements made to the Apprentice Model (Hartley et al., 2016), emphasizing the mutual benefit to the Apprentice, the Supervising BCBA, the organization for which they are both employed, and perhaps most important, the field of behavior analysis. Within the organization where the Apprentice Model has been adopted, 88% of Apprentices who took the exam, since the 2022 modifications were applied, passed on their first attempt despite attending universities with 2021 reported pass rates ranging from 34%-60% (Behavior Analysts Certification Board [BACB], 2023). In addition, through the 6-year history of the adoption of the Apprentice Model, 70% of the organization's BCBAs who supervise a caseload of patients were prior Apprentices. Structuring a wide-scale supervision model within an organization creates opportunities for the Trainee to experience high-quality tailored fieldwork, it allows the Supervising BCBA to provide supervision under a well-organized and structured framework, and it permits the organization to employ high-quality, newly certified BCBAs to begin meeting patient treatment needs.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40617-023-00799-9.