Two Centers to Five in Three Months: Behavior Frontiers Bets Big on Sacramento

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – NexPhase-backed Behavior Frontiers is opening three autism therapy centers in the Sacramento area between October and December, expanding from two centers in the region to five.

The first, on Kilgore Road in Rancho Cordova, opens this month. A center on American River Drive in Sacramento follows in November, and one on Riverside Boulevard in December. They join the company’s existing centers in Citrus Heights and Rocklin.

All three serve children under 6 with autism, the early-intervention age group the company has emphasized since its 2004 founding. The centers accept most major commercial insurers and Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, and are enrolling families now.

“Three new centers in just a few months means more children can start therapy sooner,” CEO Helen Mader said in the announcement.

The company points to state data for the demand. California’s Department of Developmental Services counted 222,586 people with an autism diagnosis in its caseload in fiscal 2024–2025, up 162% from a decade earlier. In 2024, autism became the majority diagnosis among the people the department serves for the first time.

The Sacramento build follows a similar push in San Diego County, where Behavior Frontiers opened a central San Diego center in March and scheduled an Escondido site for mid-2026. Mader founded the company and sold it to private equity firm NexPhase Capital in 2025, when it ran 26 centers plus home-based care across 12 states. The company now says it serves more than 80 regions in 12 states.

The announcement did not say how many clinicians the three centers will employ. The Riverside Boulevard site, due in December, is the last of the three to open.

AT A GLANCE

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