How many hours of ABA therapy? Colorado guide

How many hours of ABA therapy a child needs each week depends on the goals in the treatment plan, and in Colorado it also depends on who pays. Clinical guidelines describe a range from about 6 hours a week for a few focused goals to 40 hours for a comprehensive program. Health First Colorado, private plans and TRICARE each approve hours through their own review, and since 2025 Health First Colorado has stopped covering 40 clinic hours a week for children who have access to school hours.

Our directory lists 25 providers offering center-based ABA and 29 offering in-home ABA. Ask each one how many hours it can staff before you sign.

The short version

The Council of Autism Service Providers (CASP) describes focused treatment as roughly 6 to 15 hours a week and comprehensive treatment for young children as 30 to 40 hours a week of direct treatment.
The number should come from your child’s assessment. The BACB ethics code says interventions are based on assessment results.
Health First Colorado approves hours line by line, for up to six months at a time. Requests submitted on or after December 1, 2026 are reviewed against InterQual criteria.
Under HCPF memo PM 25-005, Health First Colorado no longer covers 40 hours a week in a clinic when a child has access to school hours, unless the school district shows the child cannot be served in a classroom.
TRICARE sets no weekly hour limit. Hours are based on clinically necessary needs.
Ask whether a quoted number means direct hours with your child or includes supervision and parent training.

How many hours of ABA do clinical guidelines suggest?

CASP’s practice guidelines, summarized in its paper on treatment intensity, describe three broad levels:

Type of program	What it targets	Hours a week of direct treatment
Focused	A few specific skills, such as playing with peers	About 6 to 15
Focused, severe behavior	Challenging behavior that puts the child or family at risk	About 25 to 40
Comprehensive, young child	Many skill areas at once	About 30 to 40, typically for at least two years

CASP is a trade association of ABA providers, so treat these ranges as a clinical reference point. They are not a minimum your child is owed or a number every child should get.

The BACB Ethics Code says behavior analysts choose interventions that are based on assessment results and that fit the needs, context and resources of the client and family. A plan that names an hour count before anyone has assessed your child skips that step.

What counts as an hour?

In CASP’s definition, direct treatment hours are time spent working with your child. They do not include the time the supervising behavior analyst (BCBA) spends writing plans or coaching you.

Some providers quote a total that includes supervision, parent training or school hours. When two providers give you different numbers, ask each one for direct hours with your child, BCBA supervision hours and parent training hours as three separate figures.

Who decides the hours in Colorado?

Your child’s BCBA recommends a number. Your coverage decides what gets paid.

Health First Colorado

The BCBA’s plan of care lists the treatment and supervision hours and the level of caregiver training. The provider sends it to Acentra, the state’s review vendor, with the assessment and the referral. Reviewers decide line by line what to approve, so the approved hours can be lower than the request. Each approval lasts up to six months, and a renewal needs charts and graphs showing how your child is responding.

From December 1, 2026, requests are reviewed against InterQual criteria under HCPF memo PM 26-003. Requests submitted before that date use the old criteria. Our Medicaid ABA guide covers the approval steps and how to appeal a partial approval.

State-regulated private plans

Colorado’s autism mandate, C.R.S. 10-16-104(1.4), requires state-regulated plans to cover medically necessary ABA ordered by a licensed physician or licensed psychologist, under a treatment plan from a comprehensive evaluation. The mandate does not set an hour number. Coverage still follows the plan’s utilization review, so the plan can approve fewer hours than requested, and you can appeal. Self-funded employer plans generally fall under federal law instead. Our evaluation guide covers private-plan appeals.

TRICARE

TRICARE’s Autism Care Demonstration questions and answers say there are no time limits and that weekly hours are based on the individual, clinically necessary needs of the patient. ABA is authorized six months at a time, and you pay one copayment for all ABA services on a given day. Military families in El Paso County can read our Colorado Springs guide for the full TRICARE process.

Can my child do ABA and go to preschool or school?

Yes, and on Health First Colorado the state now expects schedules to account for school. HCPF memo PM 25-005, issued July 18, 2025 with an effective date of April 15, 2025, says:

Health First Colorado will no longer cover 40 hours a week of behavioral therapy in a clinic when the child has access to school hours, unless the school district shows the child cannot be served in a classroom setting.
Requests are still reviewed for medical necessity.
The provider has to submit information from the school, such as the IEP, showing the total hours of behavioral therapy that will be provided at school.

The two dates explain why the memo is sometimes cited as April 2025 and sometimes as July 2025. We could not confirm how the memo treats a child in private preschool or a child too young for school, so ask your provider how it applies to your child.

Health First Colorado’s billing manual allows ABA in a school when the school district’s policy lets community providers into the building. Services in an IEP are separate from ABA paid by your health plan, and Colorado’s insurance law says autism coverage is in addition to IEP and IFSP services.

How does 30 hours fit around preschool?

Thirty hours a week is six hours a day, five days a week. A child in a half-day preschool program cannot also spend six hours a day in a clinic without very long days. Ask providers how they would split the hours:

Can sessions run before or after preschool, or on the days your child is not there?
Can a technician go with your child to preschool? That needs the preschool’s permission, and on Health First Colorado a public school also needs a district policy that allows it.
Would the BCBA change the goals or the number of hours if your child spends part of the week in a classroom?
Does the provider have afternoon openings?

Should the hours change over time?

They should be reviewed every authorization period. On Health First Colorado, each renewal needs data on how your child is responding. Under TRICARE, the ABA supervisor updates the plan every six months and either requests more services or sets a transition or discharge plan. Ask your BCBA what progress would lead them to recommend fewer hours, and what the plan is for ending services.

Warning signs in an hours recommendation

Every child at the provider gets the same number, whatever the assessment found.
The provider names an hour count before it has assessed your child.
The provider cannot tell you which goals the hours are for.
The quoted number mixes direct hours, supervision and parent training without saying so.
The provider recommends more hours than it says it can staff right now.

Our guide to choosing an ABA provider in Colorado covers more questions and warning signs. For how the setting affects a schedule, see in-home or center-based ABA.

Questions to ask about hours

How many direct hours a week do you recommend, and which goals are they for?
How many hours of BCBA supervision and parent training are in the plan?
How many of those hours can you staff now, and at what times of day?
How would you fit the hours around preschool or school?
What progress would lead you to recommend fewer hours?
Who handles the authorization, and when does the current approval end?

Compare providers in the Colorado ABA directory. Results appear in a rotating random order, not a ranking.

Frequently asked questions

How many hours of ABA therapy does a child need?

There is no single number. CASP describes focused programs as about 6 to 15 hours a week and comprehensive programs for young children as 30 to 40 hours a week of direct treatment. The right number comes from your child’s assessment and goals.

Is 40 hours of ABA a week covered by Colorado Medicaid?

Health First Colorado reviews each request for medical necessity. Under PM 25-005, it no longer covers 40 hours a week in a clinic when a child has access to school hours, unless the school district shows the child cannot be served in a classroom.

Does TRICARE limit ABA hours?

No. TRICARE says there are no time limits, and weekly hours are based on the child’s clinically necessary needs. ABA is authorized six months at a time.

Can ABA happen at my child’s school in Colorado?

On Health First Colorado, yes, if the school district’s policy lets community providers into the building. ABA from your health plan is separate from the services in your child’s IEP.

Do parent training hours count toward the total?

It depends on how the provider counts. In CASP’s definition, direct treatment hours do not include the time the BCBA spends coaching parents. Ask for direct hours, supervision and parent training as separate numbers.

Can I ask for fewer hours than the provider recommends?

Yes. The BACB ethics code says behavior analysts involve families in selecting goals and interventions. Tell the BCBA what your family can manage and ask how a smaller plan would change the goals. TRICARE says a family can decline a recommendation without penalty.

Sources

Checked October 2026. HCPF’s servers blocked our automated access to its policy memos, so we could not read them in full. Confirm current details with your provider or HCPF.

How many hours of ABA therapy does a child need? A Colorado guide