The Centers for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) are closing, or have already stopped, operations in 10 states.
Backed by private equity firm Blackstone, CARD is one of the largest autism providers in the US As of the end of 2021, CARD operated in 24 states across the country and had 221 locations. Following these closures, it will operate in 14 states.
“CARD regularly reviews and builds on our operational footprint to ensure our centers have adequate capacity, staffing and reimbursement rates to provide exceptional patient care,” said Jeffrey Cho, CARD vice president of field operations, in a statement. communicated to Behavioral Health Business. “We are proud to continue to play a leadership role in the overall well-being of our patients, their families and the entire autism community as we continue to provide high-quality care and services to our patients across the country.”
CARD was founded in 1990 and offers applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy, a type of individual therapy focused on improving specific behaviors. It also offers in-center services, specialty outpatient services, remote clinical services, and training programs.
The company was acquired by Blackstone, whose investments also include a virtual behavioral health provider. Ginger and consumer genomics giant Ancestry.
The decision to withdraw from certain markets comes after key changes in CARD’s leadership. In February, Jennifer Webster came on board as CEO to replace Tony Kilgore, who resigned for undisclosed reasons.
CARD is just one of many autism providers that are downsizing.
Looking at the autism space in general, investors and ABA providers developed national platforms as quickly as possible to try to gain market share and leverage in pay rate negotiations. Throughout 2022, some of these companies were forced to scale back operations to accommodate the economic realities of local labor markets and limited reimbursement increases.
However, there is still a high demand for autism services. Autism rates have increased significantly over the last decade. Approximately 1 in 44 children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s an increase from 1 in 69 children in 2012.
It appears that CARD has been gradually winding down its operations in those 10 states. Over the summer, news broke that CARD was closing 10 of its Oregon Centers, resulting in 156 layoffs, according to state documents.
In addition to Oregon, the provider will stop operating in Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.
Over the summer, 360 Behavioral Health also laid off 503 employees in California, according to the state. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Report.
Despite the closures, autism-focused private equity deals remain strong. In the first half of 2022, there were 46 deals, a 15% year-over-year increase, according to data from the braff group.
Chris Larson contributed to this story
