Short answer: yes. Applied behavior analysis is a listed eligible expense under the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, the Florida scholarship that Step Up For Students administers. Effective Family Support accepts Step Up For Students.
This is not insurance, and it works very differently, so it is worth understanding before you apply.
What Step Up For Students Actually Is
Step Up For Students is a scholarship funding organization, not an insurer. For children with disabilities it administers the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities, usually shortened to FES-UA. It replaced the older Gardiner Scholarship, which merged into it in 2021, and absorbed the McKay Scholarship in 2022. If you were told about Gardiner or McKay, FES-UA is where those programs went.
FES-UA works as an education savings account. Rather than a school receiving the money directly, funds sit in an account you direct toward approved expenses for your child. Recent awards have averaged around $10,000, though the amount is set annually by the Florida Legislature and varies.
Is ABA an Approved Expense?
Yes. The purchasing guidelines list specialized services as an eligible category, and applied behavior analysis is named within it, alongside speech-language pathology, occupational therapy and physical therapy. The guidelines reference the same Florida statutes that govern insurance coverage for ABA, sections 627.6686 and 641.31098.
Who Qualifies
To be eligible for FES-UA, a child must be a Florida resident between 3 and 22 years old, or through grade 12, whichever comes first. The child must turn 3 on or before December 31 of the year you apply, and must not turn 22 on or before September 1 of that year. Military families have added flexibility.
The child also needs a qualifying diagnosis. Autism spectrum disorder is on the list, along with conditions including Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, language impairment, specific learning disability, and several others.
One thing to know if your child is very young. We work with children from age 2, but FES-UA eligibility begins at 3. If your child is 2, the scholarship is not yet an option, though insurance may well be. It is worth having that conversation now rather than waiting.
How This Fits With Insurance
These are not mutually exclusive, and for most families commercial insurance is the first place we look, since ABA is frequently covered. The scholarship tends to matter most when insurance does not cover ABA, when a plan falls outside Florida’s coverage mandate, or when a family is coordinating several kinds of support at once.
Tell us what you have and we will help you work out the order to approach it in.
Common Questions
Do I apply through Effective Family Support?
No. You apply directly with Step Up For Students, and they determine eligibility and award amounts. We are not involved in that decision and cannot influence it.
Is there a cap on how many students can receive it?
The program has historically operated under an enrollment cap set in law, with certain categories of applicants able to participate outside it, including dependent children of members of the US Armed Forces and of law enforcement officers. Because the cap and the funding change from year to year, check the current rules on the Step Up For Students site before you rely on them.
Does my child need an IEP?
Requirements are set by the program rather than by us, and documentation expectations have changed over the years. Step Up For Students publishes a current checklist of what to gather before applying.
Can I use the scholarship and still see a BCBA in my home?
In-home ABA is how we deliver the majority of our services. Approved specialized services do not have to happen in a school building.
Where to Start
If you already have the scholarship, tell us and we will talk through how it applies. If you are still deciding, we can talk through what your insurance covers first, which is often the faster route to starting.
We provide ABA therapy in your home, at your child’s school, and in community settings across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County, for children ages 2 through 7.
This page is general information and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Step Up For Students. Program rules, eligibility and funding are set by the State of Florida and by Step Up For Students, and they change. Confirm current details directly with them before making decisions.