behavior technician

registered behavior technician

aba therapist

behavioral specialist

billing specialist

Jumpstart-Autism-Collective

Jumpstart Autism Center is a center for children that have autism ages 1-12. They use the science of Applied Behavior Analysis and Precision Teaching to allow Registered Behavior Technicians and Board Certified Behavior Analysts to make decisions on programming for these kids. As an RBT you’d work one-on-one with children to teach them skills, record data on progress, and make decisions. You do not have to be an RBT already to work here. They will fully train you and then you take an exam outside of the center to become registered.

My job at Jumpstart is by far the best job I’ve ever had. Every day is so rewarding watching kids learn and grow. You work with kids one-on-one which allows for a focused, personalized experience in teaching skills and communication  at different levels depending on the individual. 

The skills that Jumpstart teaches through the science of Applied Behavior Analysis are so useful. I started here with 0 experience as an RBT and after a year of experience I was able to move up into a new position where I’m learning even more. The supervisors at Jumpstart are very present and engaged with the children on their caseload. Jumpstart meets and exceeds the insurance requirements for supervision hours. 

There is an Employee Engagement Committee here, which organize events like potlucks, games for meetings, snacks for employees, and other exciting ways to connect with coworkers. I happen to be a part of this committee and I have to say these are the little bright things that make a job that can be very demanding and stressful a little more fun. 

I only have a couple small issues with things as they are right now. First off, I feel like we could be getting paid a more for the work we do. As far as ABA companies in New Mexico go, we are getting paid on the lower side of the average pay. However, in my opinion, it’s worth it to be working for a local company that has been rated Best Workplace Albuquerque for 4 years total, including 2022. I’ve heard some nightmare stories coming from other ABA centers in the state that happen to pay more. Also, while I’m not currently on the health insurance benefits, I’ve heard that the plan is pretty expensive and may not be a widely accepted plan. Again, even given these factors, I still find it very much worth it to work here. Also, the owners of Jumpstart seem to always be open to feedback on these things and work hard to make this a healthy workplace. 

Overall, Jumpstart is a 4/5 star workplace. They have thorough training, opportunities for growth and connection, and support for managing stress and preventing burnout. Jumpstart will grow you in so many skill areas that are applicable to everyday life, especially interpersonal skills. You will never be left without support at Jumpstart. There is always something new to experience and learn here. There is always someone who has an answer to any questions you may have. Jumpstart could probably have better compensation when it comes to pay and benefits. 

If you want to work here, you should have a passion for learning and teaching. You should be able to get along with kids and you should have a good level of patience. Being goofy, energetic, and weird is always a bonus here. Having a passion for the Autism community will also help you. This is one of the most difficult yet rewarding jobs you could ever have. 

The people at Jumpstart are some of the best around. The RBTs, trainers, and BCBAs are caring, knowledgeable, fun, and supportive, and the kids are absolutely incredible. Jumpstart has a comprehensive training program that goes above and beyond what is required by the BACB for an RBT credential. You will learn, grow, laugh, and have fun every single day. 

Those are the positives. 

This is not the place to build a career or to expect to be treated as a professional. To start, you will be underpaid and receive minimal PTO (10 days total, there is no additional bank for sick leave and you will not be paid your PTO balance if you leave). You will be punished via the attendance policy if you call in sick or leave work due to a family emergency. The more you advance in the company, the more will be expected of you, the less flexibility you will have, and the less empathy you will receive from upper management. The business model requires that you be subject to a constantly changing schedule, sometimes without notification and often without any type of communication around if the schedule change will work for you. You basically have to be okay with working any time from 7-7 with or without notice. You will be asked to sacrifice personal commitments such as family engagements, medical appointments, etc. because it is "what's best for the learners," when really it's just wildly inefficient scheduling. Any sort of dissent or request for flexibility is not taken well. This is especially true for people pursuing a career in ABA, which is truly unfortunate. The opinions of soon-to-be BCBAs and full-fledged BCBAs are not listened to or respected, and promises (of increased responsibilities, increased pay, titles, etc.) are frequently broken on the managerial side, while employees are expected to uphold their end of the bargain. While none of this is done maliciously, it is blatantly apparent that management is willing to to whatever it takes to bring in profit at the expense of employee satisfaction. 

Overall, Jumpstart is a good place to pass through quickly on your way to something else, which seems like exactly what they want. They do not invest in their employees or treat them with the respect and professionalism required to keep people around for the long-term, as evidenced by the rapid turnover rate. 

If you are just starting out and need something to get you through school, this is a good place to gain some work experience, meet some incredible people, and learn about an interesting field, but get out before it gets toxic.

Jumpstart was very rewarding. You build a strong connection to your clients and genuinely love seeing them succeed. The training there is very in depth but sometimes fast paced and can be stressful when someone is scoring you on multiple things at once. It is all to make you a better RBT though and it really prepares you for the exam. The clinical supervisors and clinical support technicians are super helpful in guiding you through any questions you have about current and new clients. My only concern is management and JAC policies. If there is an incident they will not look into it and they will automatically believe someone if they’re above you. They are all about policy but it is hard to even get questions answered by management when you’re trying to do the right thing. It’s not a problem for them to message back when they need you to cover or something though. As far as time off you don’t accrue much within a month, I got about 3-3.5 hours a month (part time) which still isn’t even a full day, it just wasn’t an issue as I didn’t need to take off too much. You also need to be prepared to have a doctors note every time you call in sick or it will go on your attendance, leaving you with the decision to go in sick or mess up your attendance and still call in if you can’t get a doctors note for the whole time you don’t feel good. It is a bit inconvenient and it would be nice to have more trust on that considering we work with kids who may not be able to do things to prevent illness like wash their hands. Overall, the job itself and the kiddos are the reason I loved the job, which you can experience at other companies. Everything else is not the greatest and you can get burnt out pretty easy. They do allow schedule changes and removing/adding clients to your schedule but it takes 30 days to change (even when you resign) and the kids aren’t really the main reason you get burnt out.

A terrific place to work regardless if you are new to the field or have tons of experience and want to expand your clinical skills. They use block schedules, so you're done by 5PM and there are no weekends. 

JumpStart has developed a career path for all levels of staff, so there is always opportunities for personal and professional growth.  

Training is amazing, particularly when most other ABA providers only give you 40-hrs training. I feel JumpStart invests in you through their extensive training to make sure you feel effective at serving children with ASD. 

The company has changed drastically over the since the start of COVID, and all if it for the better. Management has always been available to hear concerns and make changes. they are transparent with decisions and keep administrative changes to a minimum. However, this is medical services, so there are changes that are made due to federal or state regulations. Schedules due at times change, but management tries to keep schedules stable for staff and clients. Changes are typically due to a client or staff leaving or starting. Initially these schedule changes didn't make sense, but then you can quickly see the connection. 

I've seen negative reviews and don't understand some of the comments. For example, I did not see favoritism. They open opportunities for advancement to everyone. The work culture is amazing. The entire team is both professional and personally supportive, highly knowledgable and willing to encourage and guide, realistic with expectations and provide concrete feedback to improve the work you do, and willing to redirect gossip and negative talk.   

Working as an RBT has always been a wonderful and rewarding job. The kids you work with are truly amazing and many parents are very supportive of their progress. Clinical staff are also very encouraging to clients and provide true support to RBTs who are willing to learn and grow. The centers are also very well-kept and cleaned on a regular basis. 

Unfortunately, these minimal pros do not outweigh the cons. 

Upper management is the sole reason that many staff and parents/clients have left Jumpstart. Freezing raises is a common practice; they have been promised several times, however you are expected to do all extra the work without getting your end of the bargain. Employee and client complaints about upper management, complaints about how schedules have been handled, and lack of attention to what is best for the kids have been completely disregarded. Money has clearly been the sole focus of the company’s “restructuring” within the past year or so. Some employees had dedicated years to the company just to be pushed out or asked to take pay cuts. New policies have rolled out in the masses in order to “set clearer expectations”, only to make the job that much more confusing. Many current employees do not speak up due to fear of retribution from the company. 

These are only a few of the cons. My suggestion is to find a different ABA therapy providing center to dedicate your time and effort to, because this company is only looking out for themselves.

Jumpstart supports small caseloads for BCBAs and provides flexibility throughout the week. I love that core work hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. As a BCBA, I benefit from strong collaboration opportunities with colleagues who bring diverse specialties and experiences, fostering shared problem-solving and ongoing professional growth. As a center-based program, supervision occurs primarily within the center, allowing for hands-on learning and consistency for both BCBAs and RBTs. I am also very lucky to have the unique advantage of internal consultation and collaboration with licensed psychologists. Jumpstart maintains a strong focus on ethical practice and a learner-first approach in all aspects of service delivery.

In addition to the robust supports available for BCBAs, Jumpstart invests heavily in the growth and success of RBTs. I know from my own experience that working as an RBT has its own challenges and support is so critical. A distinctive aspect of working as a BCBA at Jumpstart is that every BCBA has completed Jumpstart’s internal training program and served as an RBT. This experience reinforces Jumpstart’s core values and strengthens each BCBA’s understanding of supporting the RBT role and the collaborative team environment that drives high-quality outcomes for learners.

I really enjoy the culture of JAC and am very lucky to be part of this team. 

Kids are younger and less aggressive than you would find in other autism centers, the youngest are around 6 months old and the oldest around 16.The center is kept small intentionally - around 30-40 clients including in home. Training process usually takes 1-2 months and you have to go through it even if you already have your RBT cert/BCBA. There is a verbal/written exam as well as an in vivo evaluation done over several days. 

Pros:
Drinking encouraged at staff meetings
Positive feedback from Senior Interventionists while training
Kids and parents are extremely grateful.
Schedulers are flexible with your availability.
BCBA internship program in place, although they pay less than 10% of your total cost.
No paper data, everything is done on iPad.


Cons:
No feedback given unless you've really messed up and they decide to let you go. Numerous good therapists were let go when they couldn't pass written and verbal evaluations. 
Scheduling is a hot mess - you will often have to cover sessions for other staff with little to no work experience with their clients.
Upper management picks favorites, making it impossible to progress in your role.
If you do somehow get selected, SI positions pay only $1 or $2 more.
Pay rate for RBT's is low. Unsure about BCBA's.
Pay is on the 1st of every month, not biweekly. 
Programming is confusing and errorless learning creates frustration amongst clients.
BCBAs care little about staff due to high turnover rate.

I will start with the pros. Compared to other ABA companies, I feel like Jumpstart is a great place to start at since the training is so extensive. It can be a little intimidating with all the skill checks daily, but once you get through that you truly know what you’re doing. They also take care of becoming an RBT every step of the way, and I think most everyone passes the exam pretty easy because of the training. I really enjoyed my co workers there and everyone was super nice except for management. They barely acknowledge you and If you say hi to them you might get a smile, maybe a half smile, but most of the time it’s a look of disgust. I never felt appreciated or valued by my supervisor (clinical director). The pay is lower than most ABA companies so people will usually leave after awhile making the turnover rate really high. The center is also very small, making it difficult to maneuver around without stepping on any kiddos. I felt like we were all on top of each other. The day goes by very slow since there isn’t a lot for the kids to do and you always have to be engaging with your client but it’s kinda hard when there is only a few toys to play with. The gym doesn’t have any gym equipment; or at least didn’t when I was there. All there was, was a small playroom which Is where the kids also ate their lunch. Overall it’s a great place to start at, but is not a place for longevity. 


I loved the kiddos I worked with here. The work is really rewarding. They do extensive and thorough training and really try to set you up for success. I worked there for as long as I did due to the kids. The ABQ location is way too small for the amount of kids that go there. When classrooms are too full it can have an effect on how the kids learn and progress because there is constant distraction due to the lack of space. Jumpstart requires you to take and enter a lot of data. I know other places do not require you to do as much as Jumpstart asks you to. I also feel like Jumpstart preaches their teamwork and support between BCBAs and RBTs, but there is a lack of support. I felt more support from my fellow RBTs rather than from the BCBAs on my team. I would communicate issues I was running into  to my BCBA and would never be provided with any solutions until it was an issue they physically saw themselves. If it wasn’t for my fellow RBTs I would have never progressed through issues because I never got the support and teamwork from my BCBA they like to preach. Overall I enjoyed this job but there is drama, favoritism, and other issues with the higher ups that made it hard for me to stay. 

When I first started at JumpStart, the training was amazing and I felt supported. I felt open to asking questions and letting my trainer know when I needed more support. After I passed my RBT certification, I did not feel as supported especially when put on coverage. I also started to notice more cliques within the staff and felt like an outsider. The company says they follow sick policies for clients but several times I saw sick clients who physically and mentally were not able to work but didn't have high enough fevers to go home. The company also does not have dedicated time off for being sick so a lot of employees were constantly sick because they couldn't afford to take the time off. The pay is also low compared to other companies and they try to offset this by giving away gift cards which is a nice gesture but does not help pay the bills. I appreciated being able to make up hours if my client was out sick through coverage and non-billables.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Behavior technician 10 salaries reported	$19.30 per hour
Registered behavior technician 1 salary reported	$20.00 per hour
Aba therapist 5 salaries reported	$19.65 per hour
Behavioral specialist 3 salaries reported	$18.38 per hour
Billing specialist 2 salaries reported	$40,560 per year

Working at JumpStart Autism Collective: Company Overview and Reviews

JumpStart Autism Collective

JumpStart Autism Collective Ratings

Popular jobs at JumpStart Autism Collective

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected