Using the Step Up For Students scholarship (FES-UA) for ABA

What the FES-UA scholarship is

FES-UA is a Florida scholarship for students with unique abilities, run by Step Up For Students under its Florida Choice Scholarships. Families manage it online in EMA (Education Market Assistant), Step Up's secure platform. Florida law lets families use it for specialized services from approved providers, and applied behavior analysis is one of the allowed uses.

Step Up's provider handbook lists ABA services by a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) for FES-UA students, and the chart of authorized uses in Step Up's FES-UA family handbook marks applied behavior analysis only for FES-UA. That is why this page is only about FES-UA.

Who can qualify

Florida law and Step Up's rules set who qualifies, and Step Up decides each application. In general, a child needs to meet these points:

• Be a Florida resident (or the dependent of an active-duty U.S. military member who meets Step Up's military exceptions), age 3 or older (turning 3 by December 31 of the application year) or eligible for Florida public school, younger than 22 on September 1 of the application year, and not yet graduated from high school
• Have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or a validated diagnosis from a licensed medical professional. Either one is enough, and autism spectrum disorder is one of the accepted diagnoses
• Apply each year through the Apply Now button on Step Up's website (the application is filed in EMA), with proof of age, Florida residency and the IEP or diagnosis

How to use it with Paramount Behavior

The steps below are how families usually begin. Step Up's handbook does not describe a separate ABA-only process, so the payment steps follow its general rules.

• Make sure your child has an active FES-UA scholarship in your EMA account. If you have not applied yet, start with Step Up For Students
• Call us at (561) 421-0047 or use the quick request form, and tell us your child has FES-UA. We will explain what we need to start, such as the diagnosis or evaluation and the assessment by our BCBA
• Choose how to pay. Step Up describes two routes: direct billing to a provider through Find Providers in the EMA Marketplace, or paying out of pocket and asking for reimbursement in EMA. Ask us which one fits your family
• Keep your invoices. For reimbursement, Step Up asks that the invoice show your child's name, the service period, the type of service, the amount, the provider's name and license number, and the method of payment

Things to keep in mind

With direct billing, a family can request payment to a provider only after the service has been given. For reimbursement, Step Up asks families to allow up to 60 days for review after all documents are in, and that count starts over if a request is put on hold for more information. Step Up can deny a request.

The amount varies by grade and county. Step Up reports an average of about $10,000 a year, and unused funds may roll over from year to year, but your own award is what counts. Services paid by another agency or source, such as health insurance, cannot be submitted for reimbursement. Step Up's FES-UA provider handbook adds that parents and providers may not bill an insurance company, Medicaid or any other agency for the same services that are paid with FES-UA funds. If your child also has Medicaid, tell us, and ask Step Up how the rule applies to your child.

Tutoring at our Greenacres office

Paramount Behavior also offers one-on-one tutoring in reading, writing and English for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. See our tutoring page for details.

Paying with Step Up For Students (FES-UA)? We're adding tutoring to our Step Up approved-provider account. Call us and we'll tell you where it stands.

Tutoring is a separate service from ABA, with its own records, and it is never billed to Medicaid or insurance.