Is There an Interstate Compact for Behavior Analysts?

No. As of October 2026 there is no interstate licensure compact for behavior analysts. No compact has been enacted, and none appears in the materials the profession's own bodies publish on licensure. Practicing in more than one state still means holding a license in each state that licenses behavior analysts, one board at a time.

The question comes up because several neighboring professions do have compacts, psychology and occupational therapy among them. A BCBA who works alongside those clinicians, or sees a job ad mentioning "multistate," can reasonably assume ABA has the same thing. It does not.

How do we know no ABA compact exists?

Three primary sources point the same way:

• The BACB's own licensure guidance. The December 2025 BACB newsletter has a full article on complying with state licensure laws. It explains cross-state services and remote supervision entirely in terms of each state's license and says that "providing supervision or services to someone who resides in another jurisdiction may require a behavior analyst to be licensed in that jurisdiction." It mentions no compact.
• The BACB's summary of state laws. Its Regulatory Brief on US licensure laws (version 09/2026) tracks one portability feature: whether a state has a reciprocity provision for out-of-state licensees. 27 of the 40 licensing states do. Reciprocity is a single state's decision, not a compact.
• The model law. The BACB calls the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts' Model Licensure Act "the recommended foundation for any behavior analyst licensure law." Its portability tools are Section 9 (reciprocity for someone licensed in a state with "comparable" requirements), Section 8 (a temporary license), and an exemption for out-of-state behavior analysts who practice no more than a set number of hours, days or weeks in a calendar year. There is no compact language in it.

Does PSYPACT or another compact cover ABA?

No. A compact covers the profession it was written for. PSYPACT, the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact, is for licensed psychologists. Some state ABA laws exempt psychologists who practice ABA within their training, and Texas is one (Tex. Occ. Code 506.051), but that is the psychology license doing the work. It does nothing for a BCBA who is not a psychologist. Our sister site has more on why PSYPACT does not cover master's-level clinicians.

Universal licensure laws are not compacts either. Arizona's, for example, says a license issued under it "is valid only in this state and does not make the person eligible to be part of an interstate compact" (A.R.S. 32-4302(F)).

What can a behavior analyst use instead?

Reciprocity or endorsement

This is the main route. You hold a license in one state and apply for a full license in the next, usually without re-proving your education. Texas must issue a license to someone "currently licensed as a behavior analyst or as an assistant behavior analyst from another state or jurisdiction that imposes licensure requirements similar to those" in Texas (Tex. Occ. Code 506.256). Washington licenses an out-of-state licensee if the other state's standards are "substantially equivalent" (RCW 18.380.090). Georgia adds a condition: the other state must also offer reciprocity to Georgia licensees (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 75-5-.02). See ABA reciprocity state by state.

Temporary practice

A handful of states let an out-of-state behavior analyst work briefly. Texas exempts a behavior analyst licensed elsewhere or BACB certified for services "conducted not more than 20 days in a calendar year," with notice to the client (Tex. Occ. Code 506.057). Georgia and Alaska require a temporary license instead, each capped at 30 days in a calendar year (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 75-5-.03; Alaska Stat. 08.15.030). None of these is a substitute for a license if you serve a client every week. Details in temporary practice rules.

Universal licensure recognition

Some states have laws that recognize out-of-state licenses across professions. Arizona's applies to licenses issued under Title 32, which includes its behavior analyst license, but only for someone who "establishes residence" in Arizona or is a military spouse arriving on orders, and who has been licensed elsewhere for at least a year (A.R.S. 32-4302(A)). It helps people moving to Arizona, not people serving Arizona clients from somewhere else.

Is there a telehealth shortcut?

Rarely. Most licensing states that address telehealth tie it to their own license. A few registrations do reach behavior analysts. One is in a state with no ABA license: Florida's out-of-state telehealth provider registration (Fla. Stat. 456.47) covers behavior analysts certified under Florida's s. 393.17. It applies only to Florida patients and does not replace any other state's license. Vermont, a licensing state, also lists applied behavior analysis among the professions eligible for its Interim Telehealth Registration, which lets an out-of-state licensee in good standing serve Vermont clients by telehealth only (Vermont OPR). Arizona does too: its out-of-state telehealth registration (A.R.S. 36-3606) reaches behavior analysts, and the board's fee rule sets a fee to register as an out-of-state telehealth provider (Ariz. Admin. Code R4-26-402(B)). Texas's telehealth page says you "can provide telehealth services that are within the scope of your Texas license," and New York requires a New York license when the client is located in New York or the practitioner is (NYSED telepractice guidance). More in ABA telehealth across state lines.

Will a compact come later?

Nothing in the BACB's or APBA's current materials points to one. A compact would need model legislation, then enactment by enough states to activate it, then a commission and a working application system before anyone could use a privilege. We have found no sign that any of those steps has started for behavior analysts, so plan around state licenses.

What does that mean for your next license?

Count the states where your clients, your supervisees and you are located, then compare that list with the 40 licensing states and DC on the state license index. Every licensing state on that list is a separate application, a separate renewal date and, often, a separate background check. The multistate ABA hub lays out reciprocity, temporary practice and remote supervision in one place.

That paperwork is what we do. A License by Endorsement for a BCBA is $599 per state, and an Agency Multi-State Package covering three states is $1,599 per BCBA. We prepare each file, order verifications and track the board; you review, sign and submit it yourself, which is what the BACB expects of every applicant. See pricing.