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Laredo officials highlight shortage of ABA providers, urge local training pipeline
Summary
Committee members heard that only three local ABA providers serve Laredo with long waiting lists; staff and advocates urged building a local training pipeline, citing potential partnerships with universities and a Laredo native with a PhD who has offered to help recruit and train providers.
LAREDO, March 18, 2026 — City Committee for People with Disabilities members flagged a shortage of local applied behavioral analysis (ABA) providers and discussed steps to build a local workforce pipeline.
Miss Gracia, a public-health staffer, presented the committee’s autism service access barriers report and described limited provider capacity: “we only have uh three providers for um ABA therapy and um I think one has one BCBA and seven RBTs. Um and they have a one-year waiting list and another one has a two-year waiting list,” she said. Committee members said long waits, insurance limits and limited bilingual capacity are key obstacles.
Members discussed ways to expand local training. On Monday, committee members had told city council about proposals to connect the City of Laredo with institutions that offer Registered Behavioral Technician (RBT) certification and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) supervision. A committee member said Laredo native Janet Sanchez Enriquez — identified in the meeting as holding a PhD in Special Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte — has offered to help develop local training and supervision capacity.
Committee members and staff discussed recruiting through local career-and-technical-education programs and through partnerships with universities such as TAMU and UTSA to create a pipeline of RBT trainees and attract BCBAs to practice in Laredo. Members also discussed credentialing logistics: one training described in the meeting requires about 45 hours (four weeks) of instruction plus supervised hours to obtain certification.
Members asked staff to compile a concise list of training options, costs and supervision requirements, and to share contacts for prospective instructors and supervisors. They emphasized the need for Spanish-language options and local supervision capacity so trainees can accrue required supervised hours without leaving the region.
The committee did not adopt any formal motion but directed staff to follow up on outreach to training partners and to report back at the next meeting.
