Eleos ABA Files Chapter 11 as Provider Bankruptcies Spread

Inside the Petition

BALTIMORE – Eleos ABA, LLC, a family-owned company offering in-home autism therapy, filed for Chapter 11 protection on May 12, 2026. The company reported $242,595 in assets and over $820,000 in unsecured debt. Schedules show unsecured creditors are unlikely to recover anything.

The company filed for bankruptcy under Subchapter V in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland (Case No. 26-15094), a faster Chapter 11 process for businesses with up to $3,424,000 in debt. Judge David E. Rice is overseeing the case; Angela L. Shortall is the Subchapter V trustee; The Weiss Law Group is representing the company.

Eleos offers one-on-one therapy in homes, schools, and community locations throughout Baltimore City and nearby counties, and also trains caregivers. According to its website, the company accepts Medicaid, Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, and Optum. Co-founder and CEO Casey Budd is a BCBA licensed in Maryland and has over 12 years of experience.

The listed assets include cash, financial accounts, security deposits, furniture, equipment, and accounts receivable, typical for a home-visit service business. According to petition summaries reported by WhatNow, which reviewed PACER filings, the company’s liabilities range from $500,001 to $1 million. This means its debts are more than double its assets.

The summaries describe the business environment: since January 1, 2025, all Maryland Medicaid ABA authorizations and claims have gone through Carelon Behavioral Health, a single administrative contractor. In its first year, Carelon created a backlog of behavioral-health claims that reached over 437,000 in March 2025 before the state reduced it. It is not clear from public filings if this backlog affected Eleos.

The Kapitus Claim

The largest unsecured creditor is Kapitus, LLC, a lender with a claim of about $318,547. This is the largest single debt among the company’s unsecured liabilities totaling more than $820,000, and it exceeds the company’s total assets.

Kapitus, founded in 2006, offers short-term loans and merchant cash advances to small businesses. These are priced using factor rates rather than interest rates, and the advances are repaid from a share of future card sales, according to NerdWallet’s 2026 review. The review notes, “Merchant cash advances are typically seen as a last resort for small-business owners who can’t secure traditional forms of financing.” The public case summaries do not say which Kapitus product Eleos used or how the funds were spent. NerdWallet points out that factor-rate pricing makes it hard to compare the real cost of this financing to loans with interest rates..

A Second Wave of Filings

Eleos is the second ABA provider to file for Chapter 11 this spring, and one of three in about seven weeks. ABA Therapy Solutions, LLC, based in Palm City, Florida, and founded in 2012, filed on April 12 in the Southern District of Florida (Case No. 26-14524), with liabilities between $1 million and $10 million. Its largest unsecured creditor, Florida Healthcare Connections, is owed over $1 million. Zoe Center for ABA and Development Services, which operates in five states and is based in Columbus, Georgia, filed a petition in late May, listing up to $10 million in liabilities.

These filings are part of a broader trend that BreakingNewsABA has followed this spring. Lovely Day ABA in Greensboro emailed about 100 client families on May 5 to announce its closure, a decision the founder linked to a Medicaid prior-authorization dispute worth six figures. The practice had about 75 employees. Autism Learning Partners stopped accepting New York Medicaid clients on April 17 after two 12.5 percent rate cuts.

An August Plan Deadline

Subchapter V offers Eleos some benefits that a traditional Chapter 11 does not, such as no U.S. Trustee quarterly fees, no competing creditor plans, and a trustee who helps build agreements. It also sets a deadline. According to 11 U.S.C. § 1189, the company must file its reorganization plan within 90 days of the petition unless the court finds the delay is due to circumstances beyond the debtor’s control. Ninety days from May 12 is August 10, 2026.

Any reorganization plan must address the financial reality shown in the schedules: after administrative expenses, there are no funds left for unsecured creditors, including Kapitus. As of mid-July, the case is still active before Judge Rice, and the plan is due August 10 unless the court grants an extension.

AT A GLANCE

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