Building Capacity to Support New Jersey Autism Professionals: A Workforce Study and Multi-state Comparative Landscape of Policies and Practices

Daniel Rosario, Josephine O’Grady, Lily McFarland, Peter Walter, Ryne Kremer, Sean Nguyen, and Wun-cian Lin

for Autism New Jersey

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At the request of Autism New Jersey, a team of Rutgers University graduate students from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy prepared this report. The purpose of this report is to inform the organization’s advocacy efforts to maximize the capacity of services provided to individuals with autism in New Jersey. This research examines two professions within the autism professional workforce landscape – behavior analysts and psychiatrists – of New Jersey and two comparable states, selected by Autism New Jersey.

Utilizing a mixed-methodological approach, which consists of a multi-state comparative analysis and semi-structured interviews with autism service professionals, the research team gained insights into the existing autism professional workforce landscape. Through this data collection, the team has identified the following broad research findings:

1. Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) are vital for delivering Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services to individuals with autism. However, BCBAs face workforce challenges including burnout, inconsistent supervision, financial barriers, and regional service gaps, especially in rural areas.
2. Psychiatrists play a key role in providing services to individuals with autism, which include the diagnosis, treatment, and prescription of medication for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This profession often navigates workforce shortages, limited early career exposure to ASD, and geographic access disparities.

Given these initial findings, this research focused on four components of the autism professional workforce to understand present challenges and areas for potential policy interventions. These components and associated findings are described in the report.

Based on these key findings, the research team developed the following recommendations to support Autism New Jersey’s policy and advocacy agenda:

1. Develop and Strengthen Partnerships with New Jersey Institutions of Higher Education to Create a Workforce Pipeline. Autism New Jersey should consider serving as a coordinating body that connects New Jersey’s postsecondary education students to the applied behavior analysis field. This could include an active role in showcasing ABA through on-campus events, creating ABA-specific experiential learning opportunities, and providing students with research opportunities in ABA-related content.
2. Create a Statewide Coalition with Key Stakeholders to Expand Awareness of New Jersey’s Behavioral Healthcare Provider Loan Redemption Program. This program, launched in 2023, demonstrated limited awareness within the semi-structured interviews. Autism New Jersey, in collaboration with governmental stakeholders, should develop a public messaging campaign to expand knowledge and utilization by behavior analysts and psychiatrists.
3. Engage Relevant Stakeholders in Assessing the Viability of Replication of New York and Massachusetts Workforce Development Programs for New Jersey. New York and Massachusetts have statewide workforce development programs outside of student loan assistance that could be utilized to support the retention and recruitment of behavior analysts and psychiatrists in New 9 Jersey. Autism New Jersey should collaborate with the designated state department and non-governmental entities to assess the feasibility of replicating these programs.