(a) On and after July 1, 2012, a local or regional board of education that is responsible for providing special education and related services to a child, pursuant to section 10-76a, shall provide applied behavior analysis services to any such child with autism spectrum disorder if the individualized education program or plan pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires such services. (1) Such services shall be provided by a person who is, subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, (A) licensed by the Department of Public Health or certified by the Department of Education and such services are within the scope of practice of such license or certificate, or (B) certified by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board as a behavior analyst or assistant behavior analyst, provided such assistant behavior analyst is working under the supervision of a certified behavior analyst. (2) A teacher or paraprofessional may implement the individualized education program or plan pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 providing for such applied behavior analysis services, provided such teacher or paraprofessional is under the supervision of a person described in subdivision (1) of this subsection. For purposes of this section, “applied behavior analysis” means the design, implementation and evaluation of environmental modifications, using behavioral stimuli and consequences, including the use of direct observation, measurement and functional analysis of the relationship between the environment and behavior, to produce socially significant improvement in human behavior.

(b) If the Commissioner of Education determines that there are insufficient certified or licensed personnel available to provide applied behavior analysis services in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the commissioner may authorize the provision of such services by persons who: (1) Hold a bachelor’s degree in a related field; (2) have completed (A) a minimum of nine credit hours of coursework from a course sequence approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, or (B) coursework that meets the eligibility requirement to sit for the board certified behavior analyst examination; and (3) are supervised by a board certified behavior analyst.

(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the inclusion of applied behavior analysis services in an individualized education program or plan pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

(P.A. 10-175, S. 2; P.A. 12-173, S. 7.)

*Note: On and after July 1, 2018, this section as amended by section 195 of public act 17-2 of the June special session, is to read as follows:

“Sec. 10-76ii. Provision of applied behavior analysis services. On and after July 1, 2012, a local or regional board of education that is responsible for providing special education and related services to a child, pursuant to section 10-76a, shall provide applied behavior analysis services to any such child with autism spectrum disorder if the individualized education program or plan pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires such services. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the inclusion of applied behavior analysis services in an individualized education program or plan pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.”

(P.A. 10-175, S. 2; P.A. 12-173, S. 7; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2, S. 195.)

History: P.A. 10-175 effective July 1, 2010; P.A. 12-173 replaced “individualized education plan” with “individualized education program” in Subsecs. (a) and (c), effective June 15, 2012; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2 deleted Subsec. (a) designator, deleted provisions re persons to whom services are to be provided, teacher or paraprofessional implementing program or plan and definition of applied behavior analysis, deleted former Subsec. (b), and deleted Subsec. (c) designator, effective July 1, 2018.