Alpaca Health matches Erie, Colorado families with independent BCBAs including Roma G. Velasco here in Erie and Elyanna Myer in nearby Thornton. Get in-home ABA therapy across the 80516 area and the Boulder-Weld corridor, or telehealth anywhere in Colorado. We accept private insurance and Health First Colorado, we do not run a waitlist, and most families know their coverage and match options within days.
Clinically reviewed by
Samantha Ridout, M.Phil., BCBA, LBA-NYS· BACB certification #1-22-57709 · Last updated August 2026
Accepted insurance
Choose your Erie BCBA for your child
Roma G. Velasco is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and the founder of LocusBx Behavioral Consulting. She starts with caregiver and client buy-in, then emphasizes caregiver capacity-building over direct clinician control, viewing clients and caregivers as the true experts in their own lives.
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Sofia Rente is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) who works with children and their families across Colorado through telehealth.
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Elyanna Myer is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and the founder of Sunrise Behavioral Consultants. She has extensive experience working with clients aged 18 months to 21 years across diverse settings, including in-home, school, clinic, telehealth, and youth centers.
Book a consultationView profileIn-school and in-daycare ABA: therapy integrated into your child's daily routine
Virtual ABA therapy: BCBA-coached telehealth sessions from home
Autism evaluations: ADOS-2 diagnostic assessments, coverage verified first
Parent training: twice-monthly Family Guidance sessions with your child's BCBA
Which setting fits your family? Tell us during signup and we will say plainly what is available at your address. Most families start with in-home ABA therapy, and Virtual ABA therapy reaches any Colorado address the same week.
We accept most insurance providers and handle verification, prior authorization, and paperwork.
Don't see your plan? Check all accepted insurances
Alpaca Health accepts the plans shown above, and we confirm your exact benefits before you commit to anything. Families who want the coverage mechanics in more depth can read about how Colorado Medicaid covers ABA.
What our own data shows about ABA care in Colorado
Every number below comes from the sessions, claims, and prior authorizations that partner clinics ran on Alpaca Health between August 2024 and August 2026. It describes families served by those clinics, not the ABA market in Colorado.
Families who owed nothing
94.5%
Share of Colorado families whose settled claims carried no patient responsibility. Health First Colorado covers patient responsibility by plan design, so this reflects how those plans are written.
Alpaca Health partner-clinic caseload, Aug 2024 to Aug 2026. 513 families across 34 clinics.
Median owed per hour of therapy, commercial plans
$0
Patient responsibility owed per delivered hour for Colorado families on commercial plans. Three in five owed nothing at all. Middle half of families: $0 to $5.10.
Alpaca Health partner-clinic caseload, Aug 2024 to Aug 2026. 67 families across 21 clinics.
On Health First Colorado
85.9%
Share of Colorado families at partner clinics whose primary payer is Colorado Medicaid. TRICARE West Region covers another 4.9 percent.
Alpaca Health partner-clinic caseload, Aug 2024 to Aug 2026. 531 families across 37 clinics.
Median days to a payer decision
18.5
Days from the moment a partner clinic submits a prior authorization to the moment the payer approves or denies it. More than half of decisions took longer than 14 days. Middle half of requests: 12 to 27 days.
Alpaca Health partner-clinic caseload, Aug 2024 to Aug 2026. 618 families across 37 clinics.
How Colorado prior authorizations ended
- Approved76.9%
- Withdrawn before a decision15%
- Still awaiting a decision4.4%
Share of prior authorization requests by outcome. Outcome groups with too few families behind them are not shown, so these shares do not add to 100. 501 families across 36 clinics.
Where therapy hours were delivered in Colorado
- At home57.2%
- In a clinic office18.7%
- By telehealth9.4%
- At school9%
- Other settings5.6%
Share of delivered therapy hours by the place of service billed on each signed session note. Alpaca Health partner-clinic caseload, Aug 2024 to Aug 2026.
Families who had at least one telehealth session
83.5%
Telehealth is a small share of total hours in Colorado, and most families used it at least once. It fills gaps around illness, weather, and travel rather than replacing in-person work.
Alpaca Health partner-clinic caseload, Aug 2024 to Aug 2026. 516 families across 36 clinics.
These figures describe clients of Alpaca Health partner ABA clinics, on the payers Alpaca Health contracts with. They are not measurements of the ABA market in Colorado. A figure appears only when at least 25 families from at least 3 clinics sit behind it.
Start ABA therapy nowGetting an autism diagnosis in Erie
Private insurance will not authorize ABA therapy until a doctor or psychologist has made a medical autism diagnosis, so this step comes first for most Erie families.
Which route fits depends on how old your child is, what plan you carry, and how much of a team you want in the room. Erie has more evaluation options than a town its size usually does, and the county line shapes two of them. The three routes below are where families here start.
ADOS-2 with Alpaca Health
Alpaca Health offers an ADOS-2 diagnostic evaluation with no waitlist. The result is the medical diagnosis private insurance and Health First Colorado accept, and families can run the evaluation and the BCBA match in the same week rather than finishing one before starting the other. We verify your coverage before you book.
Start your evaluationUnder 3: Early Intervention, and it splits by county
Early Intervention Colorado serves birth to age three, and Erie families reach it through two different agencies. Boulder County addresses go to A&I Avenues at 1665 Coal Creek Drive in Lafayette, which takes calls at 303-439-7011.
Age 3 and up: local clinics and hospital teams
Sprouts Wellness evaluates for autism at 698 Briggs Street in Erie and publishes a $300 price, though the plans it lists are commercial and do not include Health First Colorado. Children's Hospital Colorado runs Developmental Pediatrics clinics with a full interdisciplinary team and takes questions at 720-777-6630.
How to choose and what to expect
- Confirm the age range before you book: Some practices around Erie evaluate toddlers and preschoolers only, and others do not start until school age.
- Confirm the practice takes your exact plan: A clinic that lists commercial insurance may not be contracted with Health First Colorado, which is the gap Erie families hit most often.
- Ask whether a referral is required: Hospital programs generally want a pediatrician referral on file, and independent practices frequently do not.
- Join more than one list: Waits run long enough that families here hold two appointments and keep whichever comes up first.
- Check that the clinic is in Colorado: Search results for Erie pull in providers from Erie, Pennsylvania and Erie County, New York, so confirm the address reads Erie, CO 80516 first.
- Know what a school evaluation does: St. Vrain Valley and Boulder Valley both evaluate at no cost, and that establishes special education eligibility rather than the medical diagnosis insurance and Health First Colorado require.
Recent Colorado policy changes
If you searched for Colorado Early Intervention news in 2025, you probably saw alarming headlines about cuts to services for children under 3. Here is what actually happened, and where things stand now.
Last reviewed August 2026.
The 2025 Early Intervention funding story
- In early 2025, facing a budget shortfall, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood proposed temporary limits on Early Intervention services.
- The proposal drew strong public pushback, and the department paused the changes within days.
- The legislature responded with SB25-227, signed on April 28, 2025, which reallocated funding for the program.
- In November 2025 the state reported Early Intervention funded at a higher per-child rate than the prior year, with a one-time $7.3 million adjustment the department said would not affect direct services.
What this means for your family today
- The proposed cuts were never implemented as announced. The under-3 evaluation and service door remains open, and the free evaluation is still available.
- The episode concerned the Early Intervention budget, not ABA coverage. Colorado's private insurance mandate and the Health First Colorado ABA benefit were not part of it.
- State budgets are written year to year. If you are planning around Early Intervention services, check the Colorado Department of Early Childhood's current guidance.
How ABA therapy works through Alpaca Health
Four simple steps from your first form to your first session. No waitlists, no phone tag, no guesswork.
1
Tell us about your child
Start with our short intake form. You share the basics: your child's age, your availability, your insurance, and any autism diagnosis you already have. That is all we need to understand where your family is starting from.
2
We verify your insurance
After you submit the form, we verify your insurance and follow up within one business day to confirm the details. No long waits, no phone tag.
3
Get matched with the right provider
We match you with a licensed provider who has availability now, not months from now. Prefer someone specific? Tell us, and we will try to make it work. Either way, the fit is built around your child's needs and your family's schedule.
4
Start care the same week
We introduce you directly to your provider, and they take it from there. Most families have their first meeting or assessment within the same week, whether that is in-home ABA therapy or a telehealth session.
Local programs and organizations that support families alongside ABA therapy.
Early Intervention (IDEA Part C) evaluations and services for children birth to age 3 with developmental delays.
Public school district serving local families. Contact for IEP and special education accommodation support.
Free 24/7 phone, text, and chat support for anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Call or text 988.
Free 24/7 crisis and mental health support for Colorado residents, including mobile crisis response. Call or text 988.
Early Intervention (IDEA Part C) evaluations and services for Boulder County children birth to age 3, including Boulder-side Erie addresses.
Why independent clinics matter
In-home ABA that fits your life
- The providers we work with bring therapy to you, wherever your child is most comfortable.
- That might mean home, daycare, school, or virtual sessions. Our flexible care model ensures that therapy integrates into your family’s daily routine, rather than disrupting it.
- Our network is made up of independent, local clinicians who prioritize collaboration, not control, so you stay in charge of your child’s care.
Support for the full pediatric age range
- Many ABA centers stop care when a child turns 8. Not us. We support the full pediatric age range, toddlers to age 21.
- Your child deserves more than short-term support. With Alpaca Health, they can build a long-term relationship with a provider who understands their growth over time and adapts care as their needs evolve.
- We also support your whole family with educational events and resources, including parent webinars, advocacy toolkits, and grant guides.
More care. Less wait.
- Waiting months for ABA shouldn’t be the norm. At Alpaca Health, we help families connect with the right provider in just a few days.
- We work exclusively with independent providers, which allows us to stay flexible and waitlist-free. That means faster assessments, quicker treatment starts, and the end of years-long waits.
- Ready to get started? We’ll handle the paperwork, help coordinate referrals, and walk you through every step.
Which Medicaid plan covers ABA therapy in Erie, CO?
Health First Colorado covers ABA therapy as a pediatric behavioral therapy benefit, and the regional organization managing it depends on your county. Boulder County addresses in Erie run through Colorado Community Health Alliance, and Weld County addresses run through Northeast Health Partners.
The harder part is finding a provider who takes the plan and has room this month. Alpaca Health does, so start your match here.
Do Erie families have to drive to Denver or Boulder for ABA therapy?
No. Our BCBAs drive to family homes rather than asking anyone to drive to a center. Sessions can also happen out in the community or over secure video from any Colorado address.
Which clinician you get depends on who has openings the month you sign up, and we tell you that at signup rather than after weeks of paperwork.
Where can my child get an autism evaluation near Erie, CO?
Children can get an ADOS-2 evaluation through Alpaca Health with no waitlist, and the result is the medical diagnosis insurance and Health First Colorado accept.
Under age three, Early Intervention runs through A&I Avenues in Lafayette for Boulder County addresses and Envision in Evans for Weld County addresses. Sprouts Wellness evaluates on Briggs Street in Erie, and Children's Hospital Colorado runs full team evaluations.
