A Complete Guide for Nevada ABA Licensing Applicants and the Facilities That Hire Them

If you are pursuing a career in Applied Behavior Analysis in Nevada, whether as a Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA), a Licensed Assistant Behavior Analyst (LaBA), or a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT), there are two background check steps you need to understand. One belongs to you, the applicant for your state license. The other belongs to the facility that hires you. Most guides only cover the first step. This guide covers both, because skipping the second step is one of the most common reasons new hires get stuck before their first day on the job.

Fingerprinting Express has processed Nevada background checks since 2003 and is Nevada’s largest livescan fingerprinting provider, so we see this gap play out often. Here is what every ABA applicant, and every facility that employs them, needs to know.

Who Licenses ABA Professionals in Nevada

Nevada has regulated behavior analysts for over a decade and became one of the earliest states to do so. Nevada requires mandatory state licensure for behavior analysts, assistant behavior analysts, and registered behavior technicians. Oversight now sits with the Nevada Applied Behavior Analysis Board, which took over BCBA licensure requirements from the Aging and Disability Services Division in 2021.

There are three credential levels recognized in Nevada:

Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA). Requires national BCBA certification through the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, plus Nevada state licensure on top of it.

Licensed Assistant Behavior Analyst (LaBA). This is an undergraduate-level license, and professionals at this level provide behavior analytic services under the supervision of an LBA. They may not provide services without supervision, though they may supervise the work of Registered Behavior Technicians.

Registered Behavior Technician (RBT). With a paraprofessional certification, RBTs assist in delivering behavior analysis services and practice under the direction and close supervision of an RBT Supervisor or RBT Requirements Coordinator, who is responsible for all work the RBT performs.

What It Takes to Get Licensed

The path to an LBA license generally follows this order:

  1. Graduate degree. A master’s or doctoral degree in behavior analysis or a closely related field such as education or psychology, including the specific coursework the BACB requires.
  2. Supervised fieldwork. Most applicants complete 1,500 to 2,000 hours of supervised fieldwork before sitting for certification.
  3. BCBA examination. The exam is a 170 question multiple choice assessment, and a passing score of 70% or higher is required.
  4. Nevada Jurisprudence Exam. In addition to BACB certification, Nevada requires applicants to pass a state jurisprudence exam covering Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 641D and 437.
  5. Background clearance. This is where fingerprinting enters the picture, and it is the step most applicants underestimate.

The Fingerprinting Step Most Applicants Get Wrong

Once an application is underway with the Nevada Applied Behavior Analysis Board, applicants are directed to a background clearance process that includes both FBI and Nevada checks. The Background Clearance Request step provides information about the process to request the required background check, covering both FBI and Nevada information.

A few details trip people up every week:

  • You cannot reuse old prints. Nevada licensing boards cannot accept fingerprint results from a previous employer or a different board, since federal law restricts the sharing of fingerprint data between agencies. If you were printed for a prior job, you will still need a fresh set for your ABA license.
  • Order matters. You must begin your licensure application before heading to a livescan vendor, since the application generates the routing information the vendor needs to submit your prints correctly.
  • Use an electronic submission site. Manual ink cards take longer to clear and carry a higher rejection rate. Whenever you are physically located in Nevada, choose a livescan vendor instead of a manual card.
  • Florida applicants, take note. If your ABA role also requires Florida licensing or a Florida background screen, do not assume you need a separate out of state vendor. Fingerprinting Express is an approved livescan vendor for Florida submissions, so Nevada based applicants working toward Florida credentials can complete that step here as well.

The Step Facilities Often Miss: Your Own Civil Applicant Account

Here is the part of the process that rarely gets attention, and it does not belong to the applicant at all. It belongs to the facility hiring them.

Under NRS, agencies and facilities that are required to background check their employees cannot simply send a new hire to get fingerprinted and call it done. The facility must establish its own account with the Department of Public Safety in order to submit fingerprints and receive results, and DPS will require a copy of the facility’s license when that account is set up. Once the fingerprint account is established, every covered facility must use Nevada’s Automated Background Check System, known as NABS, to run background checks on new hires and on existing employees due for their five year recheck.

This means an ABA practice, clinic, or service provider hiring LBAs, LaBAs, or RBTs needs its own Civil Applicant Account with the Department of Public Safety before background results can route directly to the organization. Without that account in place, results have nowhere reliable to land, and clearance for new hires stalls.

A few operational notes for facility administrators:

  • Administrators who are not owners still need to be fingerprinted under the facility’s account number.
  • Account approval through the Records, Communications and Compliance Division can take six to eight weeks, and that timeline is not guaranteed or able to be expedited, so apply well before your first hire is scheduled to start.
  • A facility may recover up to half of the background check fee from the employee, and if it requires the employee to pay any portion, it must allow that amount to be paid in periodic installments.

If your organization is hiring ABA staff and does not yet have a Civil Applicant Account, that is the first call to make, not the last.

Why Fingerprinting Express Is the Right Partner for Both Sides

We sit at the intersection of these two processes every day. On the applicant side, our locations across Reno, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Henderson handle electronic livescan submissions that route directly to the Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History, reducing rejected prints and speeding up clearance. On the facility side, we help organizations understand the NABS enrollment process, walk through Civil Applicant Account setup, and keep new ABA hires from sitting in limbo while paperwork catches up.

Our rejection rate sits at 0.02%, far below the industry average of roughly 20%, which matters when every rejected print adds days to an applicant’s start date. We have built this expertise over more than two decades, and Culture To Care is not a slogan for us, it is how we treat every applicant who walks through our doors, whether they are a first time RBT or a facility administrator opening their fifth location.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Nevada require a state license in addition to BCBA certification? Yes. Nevada requires both national BCBA certification and state licensure to practice legally, which is not the case in every state.

How often does an ABA license need to be renewed in Nevada? Licenses must be renewed every odd numbered year, and renewal requires at least six hours of cultural competency and DEI instruction.

Can I use fingerprints from a previous Nevada job for my ABA license? No. Federal law prohibits the sharing of fingerprint information between employers and boards, so you will need to be fingerprinted specifically for the ABA Board even if you were printed elsewhere before.

Does a facility need its own account to receive employee background results? Yes. The facility must establish an account with the Department of Public Safety and submit fingerprints in accordance with NRS Chapter 449, after which it must use NABS to manage all employee background checks.

Is Fingerprinting Express approved for Florida submissions? Yes. Fingerprinting Express is an approved livescan vendor for Florida, so applicants who also need Florida fingerprinting do not need to seek out a separate vendor.

Ready to Get Started

If you are an ABA applicant ready to complete your background clearance, or a facility administrator who needs to set up a Civil Applicant Account before your next hire starts, our team can walk you through both. Visit a Fingerprinting Express location in Reno, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, or Henderson, or reach out to our team to talk through your facility’s NABS setup before your next applicant is left waiting.

This article is for general informational purposes and reflects requirements as understood at the time of publication. Licensing rules can change, so always confirm current requirements directly with the Nevada Applied Behavior Analysis Board at nvababoard.org and the Nevada Department of Public Safety at rccd.nv.gov.