First Children Services Lowered BCBA Billing Targets. BCBA Turnover Plummeted and Hours Rose

FIRST CHILDREN SERVICES – The New Jersey and Pennsylvania provider lost 31 board-certified behavior analysts over an 18-month period, according to Chief Operating Officer Matt Linder. Its pay plan, which he said affected about 30 to 40 BCBAs, set weekly billing targets averaging 28 hours and deducted paid time off when they fell short.

The company lowered the targets by an average of 4 hours a week, kept salaries unchanged, and introduced bonuses for extra billable hours and technician supervision. Over the plan’s first 12 months, BCBAs billed 8.6% more hours, Linder said on the Behavioral Observations Podcast in an episode released October 14, 2026. He reported three departures in the 14 months following the plan’s announcement, including two dismissals.

Linder, who runs Desired Effect Coaching Solutions, said he first joined the company as a consultant hired to address retention. He identified the pay plan as one of the biggest reasons BCBAs were leaving. The company later hired him full-time as COO.

First Children Services, based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, says on its website that it reaches more than 1,500 children and families on any given day, with a workforce of more than 500. Most of its work is in schools, Linder said, and it also operates STRIVE Autism Centers in both states. The company, which describes itself as family-owned, received a growth investment in September 2025 from Station Partners, a private investment firm in Morristown, New Jersey.

How the Old Quota Worked

Linder said the plan was imported: someone hired from another company brought that company’s system along, and it was copied over essentially as-is. Each BCBA picked a weekly billable-hour target from a menu, with a salary attached to each option. The targets averaged about 28 hours, and some BCBAs signed up for 33. The company also ran a profit-and-loss statement for each BCBA.

The company tallied billing every two weeks. Hours short of the target automatically came out of a BCBA’s paid time off, and hours above it earned more time off, which could be cashed out only in limited amounts. A BCBA who ran out of paid time off faced a write-up and possibly a pay cut. Linder said 3 BCBAs had their salaries cut over an 18-month period.

Linder said BCBAs were billing only 76% of their required hours on average. He also said recruiting had oversold the job, leaving new BCBAs with expectations that did not match the work.

Linder said travel, cancellations, and paperwork such as session notes and reauthorizations reduce the time available to bill for BCBAs who work across homes, clinics, and schools. Much of their technician management work is also unbillable, he said. Under those conditions, he said, 28 hours “can become 20 hours really quickly.” The requirements he has seen for full-time BCBAs range from 18 to 35 billable hours a week, depending on the service model.

Lower Target, Same Salary

Linder used the billing data to set new targets a little above what BCBAs had actually been billing, reducing requirements by an average of 4 hours to about 24 a week. Individual targets still varied, and salaries stayed the same.

“Cardinal sin to decrease somebody’s salary. If you decrease somebody’s salary, you’re just asking them to leave.” – Matt Linder, Chief Operating Officer, First Children Services

The company also stopped docking paid time off for missed hours and granting it for extra ones. BCBAs earn their salary’s hourly equivalent for every hour billed above target, plus a tiered bonus offering larger payments for supervising more technicians across more cases. Before, Linder said, there was no separate financial reward for that supervision work, much of which is unbillable.

Linder said the finance department was skeptical of paying the same salaries for fewer required hours, but Chief Executive Matt Hess backed the plan from the beginning.

Linder said the plan was announced in July and took effect that September. Before implementation, he met over Zoom with every BCBA and their regional and state directors. Each BCBA got a personal calculator showing how the plan would affect their pay. Missed targets would no longer trigger automatic PTO deductions; a persistent shortfall would prompt a review of obstacles and needed support. He recalled staff asking whether they would still face penalties.

What 12 Months of Data Show

Linder reported an 8.6% increase in billable hours and an average gain of 3.77 hours per BCBA per two-week pay period, or about 1.9 hours a week. Asked whether extra pay encouraged overwork, he said some BCBAs added about 5 hours a week, but none billed more than 40. Billable hours do not include all time spent working.

Linder said the new bonuses cost about $175,000 over the year. After accounting for those payments, he reported a $28,000 improvement over the old system on a direct-cost basis. That comparison excluded any savings from lower turnover, he said.

Linder projected annual technician turnover of about 35%. He compared it with the 70% he said some large ABA providers expect, rather than FCS’s own prior rate. He credited steadier supervisors in part and said other systems had changed, too.

AT A GLANCE

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