A Year of Progress: Hopebridge’s 2024 Impact

Hopebridge Reflects on Successes in Pediatric Care for Autism and Developmental Disabilities

As we step into our 20th year of service in 2025, we’re sending a huge round of virtual high-fives, dance parties and cheers to everyone who made 2024 so impactful through countless small – but no less extraordinary – victories.

Our Hopebridge team is taking a moment to celebrate the incredible wins and milestones achieved over the past year. From families sharing joyful “firsts” to Hopebridge team members embracing new roles and opportunities, it was a year full of growth, progress and opened doors for our children, caregivers, clinicians and community.

 

How Families Found Success at Hopebridge in 2024

For a peek into this year’s progress for our kids, we served 4,598 families in 113 locations across 12 states! Want to know what these numbers mean to the community?

• We introduced 2,173 new ABA patients to our care.
• There were 86,388 authorizations submitted by our home office teams for autism testing, applied behavior analysis (ABA), therapy evaluations, and outpatient therapies.
• Though children living in low-income areas are 80% less likely to be identified with autism than children in affluent areas*, Hopebridge leads the industry in caring for families living at or below the poverty line by more than 28%, when compared to peer providers.
• And last, but not least, 915 children achieved their goals and transitioned from therapy onto other exciting goals.

Through the power of collaboration and the dedication of our team, our Hopebridge kiddos made meaningful strides this year. Here are just a handful of the individual goals our kids have achieved this year:

• “Shortly after learning to identify emotions represented in a picture, this child took part in circle time when another child was upset and crying. He looked at them and said, ‘it’s ok,’ and wiped a tear from the child—all completely unprompted.”
• “He went from using PECs to communicate, to speaking 4- and 5-word mands.”
• “A memory that will stay in my heart forever is when our girl independently asked me how my day was.”

To see even more of our kiddos’ progress, follow @hopebridge360 on Instagram.

Clinicians and Others from Hopebridge’s Caring Crew Advance Careers at Hopebridge

At Hopebridge, “Learn & Grow” isn’t solely one of our cultural cornerstones—we’re living it daily. Just as 2024 was a year of growth for our children, it was also a year for our team to shine. Here is what professional development looked like for our BCBAs, SLPs, OTs, psychologists, RBTs, ABA students and more at Hopebridge:

• There was growth at all levels and departments for our team, with a whopping 3,275 internal promotions! From the BCBA Career Pathway to shifts to roles in operations, our team members took some big steps along the career ladder.
• It was a wealth of learning, with 2,320 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) provided to our team from in-house thought leaders—all free of cost to our team! This included cross-functional courses on neurodiversity-affirming care, Practical Functional Assessment (PFA), Skilled-Based Treatment (SBT), familial support, and an entire Taylor Swift-themed CE week, among other trainings!
• 231 students enrolled in our renowned Fellowship Program for behavior analysis and outpatient therapies fieldwork experience for occupational therapy and speech-language pathology students.
• Launched a new Outpatient Therapies Mentorship Program for speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists to provide opportunities for more community and skills development within their fields.
• We stablished nine university partnerships across the country to provide our team and their families with affordable access to quality programs that will help them grow their education and their careers.

Beyond these collective wins, many of our Hopebridge employees accomplished their own personal and professional goals this year. Here is what our team members told us were their biggest wins from 2024:

• “This year I graduated with my undergrad in psych, started my master’s program, and joined the Fellowship!”
• “I went from Level 3 RBT in Avondale, to CC in Hoover in September and now CM in Hoover. I am happy to be a part of the Hopebridge family and helping our Hoover center become amazing. ☀️“
• “Nia generously allowed me and another BCBA in Evansville clinic to be a part of a DEI presentation that many viewed earlier this year and it was great to have my voice heard on cultural awareness and humility!”
• “It is in the discomfort I find myself growing, changing, evolving toward the best version of myself, the best SLP I can possibly be for each of my kids – and they do become ‘your’ kids,” upon winning the Distinguished Early Career Professional (ECP) Certificate from ASHA.
• “I PASSED my BCBA Exam yesterday!!!! I was planning and hoping to pass before 2025 and I did!”
• “I have only been a BCBA for 1 year and 3 months, but in 2024, I have personally had 4 kiddos graduate from services from my caseload. I have grown so much professionally in this last year and my heart is incredibly full.”

Want to hear about even more milestones? Follow along on LinkedIn for all the buzz about our team.

 

Find Growth at Hopebridge in 2025

As part of this reflection, we’re filled with gratitude for the strength of our kids and community. With our families, we’ve embraced challenges, celebrated successes, and most importantly, continued to build a foundation of support and understanding. Each moment, big or small, reflects the power of community, commitment and the life-changing impact of an autism diagnosis, ABA therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy.

As we look ahead, we’re excited for the journey to continue and appreciate the opportunity to be part of this thriving community!

If you are looking for a space filled with compassion, support and growth opportunities for your child in the year to come, please reach out to us online to learn more about our services.

Or, if you are looking for a welcoming environment to hone your own skills while making a difference in the lives of others, visit our job board to review the open positions available across the country.

 

* Source: Alyward, Brandon S. PhD, Gal-Szabo, Diana E. PhD, Taraman, Sharief MD; Racial, Ethnic, and Sociodemographic Disparities in Diagnosis of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.  

*Informed consent was obtained from the participants in this article. This information should not be captured and reused without express permission from Hopebridge, LLC.