West Virginia rejects student loan forgiveness for ABA

Post Reply New Topic

What many professionals in the autism-care industry saw as a potential life saver for their profession has officially died in the Legislature.

House Bill 4723 would have placed applied behavior analysts into West Virginia’s student loan forgiveness program. The bill did not get out of the Finance Committee before the Sunday deadline to consider bills on the House floor.

We need to train people, and we need mechanisms in place to retain them,” said Jill Scarbro-McLaury, director of Bright Futures Learning Services, an applied behavior analysis center in Winfield. “We can’t compete to keep our young people here.”

The House bill would have added behavior analysis to an existing student loan program for health professionals. The current student loan forgiveness program allows certain medical professionals to have their loans reimbursed in returns or an obligation to practice in a “rural, underserved area of West Virginia.”

The bill had bipartisan support, with sponsors in both parties. HB 4723 did not make it out of the House Finance Committee, which is chaired by Delegate Eric L. Householder, R-Berkeley. (Householder did not return a request for comment.)

Surrounding states have more funding from the state government for autism treatment. This often leads to professionals and parents of autistic children leaving the state.

Scarbro-McLaury points to West Virginia University doing away with its master’s program for certified behavior analysts as another example of the state not supporting autism treatment.