Staff turnover is one of the most pressing challenges in applied behavior analysis (ABA) and pediatric therapy.
From Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs) to Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs), high churn disrupts continuity of care, increases operational costs, and places additional strain on already overextended teams. The data highlights the urgency: addressing high turnover rates is essential for the stability of pediatric therapy and autism service teams.
High turnover in ABA means lost continuity (and poorer outcomes) for families, fractured therapeutic relationships, and delays in achieving outcomes. And as Sarah Bootcheck, M.S., CCC-SLP and account manager at Raintree, shared in a recent webinar: “Staff turnover is time and money, and that’s something that we want to avoid.”
Why Clinicians Walk Away: Drivers of Burnout and Turnover in ABA
While compensation plays a role, research shows that burnout is strongly tied to daily inefficiencies and administrative burdens. These are additional drivers of burnout and turnover in ABA:
- High caseloads. Large or unbalanced caseloads create constant pressure, leading to stress and emotional exhaustion.
- Insufficient supervision and training. Clinicians who lack strong mentorship or ongoing professional development often feel unsupported and more likely to leave.
- Recognition and role clarity. When expectations are unclear or contributions aren’t acknowledged, engagement drops and turnover rises.
- Work–life balance. Long hours and after-hours documentation undermine satisfaction, particularly for early-career staff.
One study confirmed that high work demands directly predict emotional exhaustion and disengagement among behavior analysts, impacting the overall work environment and care experience. Another found that satisfaction with supervision and infrastructure strongly predicts whether behavior technicians intend to stay.
Taken together, these factors remind us that turnover isn’t caused by a single issue. It’s the accumulation of pressures that gradually erode commitment over time.
How Pediatric Therapy Software Can Help Reduce Turnover in ABA
Technology alone cannot solve every retention challenge. Compensation, supervision, and caseload management will always play critical roles. But the right pediatric therapy software can meaningfully reduce the daily burdens that fuel burnout and turnover. For both RBTs and BCBAs, technology has the power to transform the daily experience of delivering ABA therapy.
Given the factors that contribute to attrition (from excessive documentation to lack of visibility and recognition) organizations can lighten the load on providers in four important ways:
1. Specialized Tools (and Unified Workflows)
One of the recurring themes in pediatric therapy is that each discipline has its own language, priorities, and documentation requirements. What works well for PT or speech therapy may not translate for ABA. Sarah described the challenge this way: “It’s easy for us to assume that different disciplines need the same documentation, but that’s just not the case… You cannot put a square peg in a round hole.”
✅ Solutions for ABA: Provide each discipline with documentation tools that reflect its unique needs, while still connecting the larger practice through shared data. This combination of specialization and integration helps clinicians feel supported in their day-to-day work while giving leaders the organizational insight they need.
2. Mobile and Offline Access
RBTs often work in homes, schools, or community settings as part of their role in ABA therapy. Without mobile tools, documentation gets pushed to evenings, driving dissatisfaction. A state workforce study found that short tenure and high turnover in ABA are tied to lack of real-time documentation tools.
✅ Solutions for ABA: Equip clinicians with mobile tools that work wherever the session takes place, even without internet access. When notes can be completed in the moment, providers regain their personal time and organizations gain cleaner, more reliable data.
3. Supervisory Tools for BCBAs
Retention challenges don’t stop at the entry level. BCBAs experience high burnout when caseloads are heavy and support is lacking.
✅ Solutions for ABA: Offer supervisors clear dashboards, embedded assessments, and workload management features that reduce paperwork and surface insights quickly. With less time spent chasing details, BCBAs can focus more on coaching, feedback, and clinical leadership: the work that actually strengthens teams and improves retention.
4. Outcomes Made Visible
Recognition and clarity are powerful retention drivers. In occupational therapy, similar challenges regarding employee turnover and work environment can be observed. Role clarity and recognition are strongly linked to retention in the work environment of ABA therapists.
✅ Solutions for ABA: Use software that turns data into clear measures of progress that resonate with both providers and families. For clinicians, it is a reminder that their daily efforts add up to meaningful change. For families, it creates trust and motivation to stay engaged in the therapeutic process.
Better Together: Raintree + Rethink
Turnover is not inevitable. It’s often a symptom of systems that put more weight on clinicians than they should. That’s why Raintree has partnered with Rethink Behavioral Health to deliver an integrated solution designed for ABA and pediatric therapy.
Together, Raintree and RethinkBH enable organizations to:
- Schedule once, with data flowing seamlessly into treatment and billing.
- Provide RBTs with mobile, offline tools that cut down on after-hours charting.
- Equip BCBAs with discipline-specific oversight and caseload visibility.
- Eliminate duplicate entry across ABA, PT, OT, and SLP, while honoring the unique documentation needs of each discipline.
When organizations ease the daily burden on staff, they create an environment where clinicians stay, grow, and deliver the long-term impact children and families deserve.