Joy Pollard Joins CASP as First-ever VP of Clinical Standards

The Council of Autism Service Providers (CASP) has hired Joy Pollard as its first-ever vice president of clinical standards. Pollard brings nearly two decades of experience as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), clinical scientist, and executive leader to the rapidly growing trade association.

In 2014, Pollard founded the Behavior Change Institute, a California-based autism service provider organization, where she was CEO for 11 years. Most recently, she served as head of clinical research and innovation at the Center for Social Dynamics.

Pollard has an extensive history working with CASP. She helped shape CASP’s ABA Practice Guidelines V3.0 as a subject matter expert and was lead author of its Telehealth Practice Parameters.

She has a robust research background and holds an adjunct faculty appointment at Stanford University School of Medicine. Her research includes a randomized controlled trial of telehealth-enabled behavioral treatment versus in-person, parent-mediated behavioral treatment.

She has also published extensively, authoring articles on ethics, telehealth, and other subjects. Her work has appeared in The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and Behavior Analysis Research and Practice.

“Maintaining the field’s generally accepted clinical standards is a huge responsibility,” said Lorri Unumb, CEO of CASP. “Hiring Joy Pollard as our first-ever VP of clinical standards reflects our commitment to doing that well. In her new role, she’ll be educating healthcare payors, autism service providers, and government officials about our ABA Practice Guidelines and other clinical standards. She’ll also lead development of the guidelines’ next iteration.”

Unumb added, “We’re incredibly fortunate to have Joy in this role. Her experience developing standards, producing research, and leading a provider organization is a perfect match for this work.”

“I’m honored to help shape the next chapter of the ABA Practice Guidelines and support CASP's continued leadership in advancing evidence-based care,” said Pollard. “My commitment to this work is deeply personal. Having a family member on the autism spectrum has shown me that access to high-quality behavioral health services is life-changing.”