Action Behavior Centers has created a Community Reach Center as a nonprofit in Houston, Texas - with a goal to serve kids without access to traditional ABA services. Here is a link to our broadcast via a major news channel in Houston!
This center was created to aid children in underserved communities by providing therapy solutions for them - free of charge. This opens the door to families who want to get a jump-start for therapy for their child and need an affordable alternative.
Brittany Barraza, a current ABC parent, states "When we heard that ABC was going to open up this sort of center, I was so touched by that because I think that they really have set out to just eradicate how hard it is for families in this position to get the services they need".
ABA therapy typically costs families tens of thousands of dollars per year. ABC works with most major insurance providers to find the most affordable options for parents. By taking it a step further, ABC is now able to offer the same quality of care to uninsured families. "It will provide the same level of services in the same fashion as any of our Centers, but it will be structured as a not-for-profit, and the funding of it will come from external sources with the kids that get to participate and get this therapy will get to experience the same amount of benefits as anybody else in our centers," says ABC CEO, Hersh Sanghavi.
The Community Reach center will serve 30 children on a first-come, first-served basis, but our hopes are to open the doors to many more children as our story continues.
"ABC and ABA therapy is part of our story. And being able to share that with others has been such a beautiful process and amazing in so many ways, to just share that this doesn't have to be a completely overwhelming thing, that this could be something that's joyful, that this can be a place where you experience peace and laughter," smiles Manny Barraza.
He states, "This process that can be very difficult, can be challenging, it can be wearing on a family, on a marriage on father-daughter, mother-daughter relationships, and just being able to have that and thinking about this Center that's opening up for communities, for families to be able to have that at their fingertips, is really beautiful to think about".
Applications will open up at the first of 2022 for the new Community Reach Center. Many families have been advocating and trying to get Medicaid to pay for this therapy in Texas and there's a chance that will happen next year.
*via https://www.fox26houston.com/news/free-center-to-open-soon-in-houston-to-offer-aba-for-autism