Behavior Analyst Licensure in Wyoming: BCBA and State License Requirements

Wyoming issues two behaviour analysis licences: the licensed behavior analyst and the licensed assistant behavior analyst, defined in W.S.

33-27-113(a)(xi) and (xii) and earned under W.S.

33-27-124.

The board's page states that no person may practice as a behavior analyst or assistant behavior analyst in Wyoming without first obtaining a license or certificate from the board.

The statute's penalty, W.S.

33-27-119(b), is one combined test: unless exempt under W.S.

33-27-114 or 33-27-125, a person who represents himself as a behavior analyst or assistant behavior analyst and engages in the practice of behavior analysis in violation of the act commits a misdemeanor.

The provision reaches the two together — holding yourself out as a behavior analyst while practicing in violation of the act — so an unlicensed BCBA in Wyoming should not be held out under that title.

Wyoming writes no degree, coursework or fieldwork rule of its own.

An applicant for the full licence holds a current certification as a board certified behavior analyst verified by the board with the certifying entity, and an assistant applicant holds a current certification as a board certified assistant behavior analyst verified the same way.

The certifying entity is the behavior analyst certification board or another entity specified by board rule whose credentialing programs are accredited by the national commission on certifying agencies, the American national standards institute or a similar successor accrediting organization.

The degree, supervised-experience and examination requirements behind that certification belong to the certifying entity, so the path runs through the BACB first, then to the board's application.

Chapter 27 names no Wyoming licensing exam.

Licensure rides on current certification with the certifying entity, so the examination behind a Wyoming licence is the one that certification rests on — the certifying entity's own requirement, covered in this site's BCBA guides rather than in state law.

The board can add requirements by rule, and the research did not read Wyoming's administrative rules, so whether the board imposes any state-specific or jurisprudence exam is not stated in the sources read.

Check the application instructions the board publishes before you file.

The assistant licence is supervision-dependent: a licensed assistant behavior analyst may engage in the practice of behavior analysis only under the supervision of a licensed behavior analyst or licensed psychologist, so losing a supervisor is a licensing problem, not just an employment one.

For a graduate counting hours, W.S.

33-27-125(a)(vii) exempts an unlicensed person pursuing experience in applied behavior analysis consistent with the certifying entity's experience requirements, provided the experience is supervised in accordance with those requirements and board rule — the lane a BCBA fieldwork trainee occupies in Wyoming.

The hour totals and supervision standards themselves are the certifying entity's, not the state's.

Wyoming's administrative-rule supervision ratios for technicians were not among the sources read.

The practice of behavior analysis includes the empirical identification of functional relations between behavior and environmental factors, and the design, implementation and evaluation of instructional and environmental modifications.

The definition draws an outer line: it does not include psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, psychoanalysis, hypnotherapy, counseling, psychological testing, personality, intellectual or neuropsychological assessments, or the diagnosis of psychological disorders.

Section 33-27-125(a) lets ten listed groups practice without a licence when practicing within the scope of their authority and their education and training: members of another recognized profession who do not present themselves as licensed behavior analysts; psychologists and people acting under a psychologist's authority and direction; those practicing exclusively with non-humans; organization-only services; teaching behavior analysis and conducting behavior analytics research; students in a defined supervised program; supervised experience-seekers; behavior technicians under a licensee's supervision; caregivers serving only their own recipient; and unpaid friends or relatives.

A technician's assigned services may not include designing assessment or intervention plans or procedures.

The section carries no explicit school-employee exemption, so school staff practicing behavior analysis should confirm their status with the board.

A behavior analyst or assistant behavior analyst currently licensed and in good standing in another jurisdiction whose licensure requirements are comparable can receive a Wyoming licence by endorsement, if they otherwise meet the act's requirements.

For a BCBA relocating, the certification leg of W.S.

33-27-124(a) still has to be current, since the licence is defined by certification with the certifying entity.

Chapter 27's Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact provisions cover psychologists, so endorsement is the route the act provides for behavior analysts; confirm the paperwork with the board.

Two renewal obligations sit in the statute itself.

The board requests criminal history background information for all initial and renewal applicants every two (2) years under W.S.

7-19-106(a)(xxxvii), and under W.S.

33-27-116(r) the board shall require every person licensed under the act who has not previously completed an identity history summary, as defined in the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact, including its required background investigation, to complete it as part of the person's next license renewal.

The rest points at board rules: the board establishes reasonable fees for the issuance and renewal of licences in rules promulgated under the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act, and may require continuing education for people licensed or certified under the act to qualify for renewal, with the terms specified in its rules.

The renewal cycle for behavior analysts, the fee amounts, and whether a continuing education requirement is currently in force are not stated in the sources read; confirm with the board before filing.

The same Board of Psychology that licenses psychologists licenses behavior analysts and behavior analyst assistants.

The board seats six licensed psychologists, two licensed behavior analysts and one public member, all appointed by the governor.

Each behavior analyst member must be licensed under the act with a minimum of three (3) years of post-licensure experience, except the initial two behavior analyst members, who could be appointed before licensure but must obtain it during their board tenure to be reappointed.

Applications for board certified behavior analysts and board certified assistant behavior analysts are made on the board's licence application form.