A running list of the behavioral health layoffs defining 2026: the providers, headcounts, and effective dates, and the Medicaid and regulatory pressure behind each cut.
Laurel Ridge Treatment Center: 648 Layoffs After a CMS Medicare Termination in San Antonio
Laurel Ridge Treatment Center—a 330-bed psychiatric hospital in San Antonio owned by Universal Health Services—is laying off roughly 648 employees effective June 26. The reduction follows a decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to terminate the facility’s Medicare provider agreement on April 30, after federal regulators determined it had failed to meet Medicare and Medicaid health and safety requirements.
The figures come from a layoff notice the company filed with the Texas Workforce Commission on April 27, which lists the June 26 effective date and is searchable in the commission’s public WARN database. In a statement, UHS said it was “deeply disappointed by this outcome” and would provide transition support, including career fairs. The company sued to block the termination in late April, but a federal judge denied its request for emergency relief on April 28, and it has since begun an administrative appeal while seeking to regain its CMS status. The cut ranks among the largest single-site behavioral health workforce reductions of the year.
Aurora Mental Health and Recovery: 111 Colorado Positions Cut Amid a State Repayment
Aurora Mental Health and Recovery—one of Colorado’s largest community behavioral health providers—is eliminating 111 positions, about 14 percent of its workforce, effective June 30. In a public statement, the organization said most of the affected roles are administrative and support positions, with only four in direct client care, and that it is also closing several programs that lack sustainable funding, including residential services at its Mrachek House, a youth leadership academy, adult education, and victim assistance.
Chief Executive Kelly Phillips-Henry said the organization was “taking this action with a heavy heart,” citing a projected $6.5 million revenue decline for the fiscal year beginning July 1, driven by state reimbursement changes and federal Medicaid reductions, on top of a $7.2 million reconciliation payment owed to the state. The provider filed a WARN notice with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment and said it had already used furloughs and hiring freezes to limit the cuts.
Ample Joy ABA: 100 Permanent Layoffs at a Corona, California Autism Provider
Ample Joy ABA—a Corona, California autism therapy provider founded in 2021—laid off 100 staff in early May in a reduction described as permanent in a filing with the California Employment Development Department, where the notice is listed in the state’s public WARN records. The company offers in-home, in-clinic, in-school, and telehealth ABA, along with early intervention, speech, and occupational therapy across Los Angeles, Corona, and Palm Springs.
Ample Joy has not publicly stated a reason for the cuts. They land amid sustained pressure on California’s autism therapy market, where providers face stagnant reimbursement and a pending Medicaid rate-setting process.
Aliya Health Group: About 80 Jobs Cut as New Leadership Restructures the SUD Company
Aliya Health Group—a multistate addiction treatment company—cut roughly 80 jobs in late April as new leadership restructured the organization. The reductions combined about 40 corporate layoffs with separations tied to the planned closure of several facilities, and they accompanied a leadership change, with Frank Cid taking over as chief executive.
Aliya operates residential and outpatient substance use disorder programs across multiple states. Unlike most entries on this list, the cuts were not captured in a public WARN filing; the figures are based on accounts from affected employees and changes to their posted work histories, so the totals may shift as more becomes public.
Community Healthlink: 78 Layoffs as the Worcester Behavioral Health Nonprofit Winds Down
Community Healthlink—a Worcester-area nonprofit affiliated with UMass Memorial Health—filed notice with the state to lay off 78 employees across its Worcester, Leominster, and Webster locations effective June 30 as the organization prepares to wind down. Operating since 1977, it has provided crisis intervention, recovery homes, and other services to more than 22,000 adults, children, and families each year.
UMass Memorial attributed the closure to workforce shortages and declining demand. Some programs are expected to move to other nonprofits, including Open Sky Community Services and Clinical and Support Options, but UMass Memorial confirmed it could not reach agreement with Open Sky on several major programs, including the Worcester Community Behavioral Health Center, leaving part of the transition unresolved. Community Healthlink is one of three MassHealth Behavioral Health Community Partners on this list cutting staff this summer.
Innovative Care Partners: 70 Jobs Cut Across Western Massachusetts
Innovative Care Partners filed notice to lay off 70 employees effective June 30 at sites in Northampton, Pittsfield, and West Springfield, according to state filings. It is a consortium of three western Massachusetts nonprofits—the Center for Human Development, Gandara Center, and ServiceNet—formed to deliver the Behavioral Health Community Partner program in the region.
The cuts at all three Massachusetts partners trace to the same policy change: a reduction in federal care-management funding and the removal of a state requirement that Accountable Care Organizations contract with Behavioral Health Community Partners. The layoffs take effect June 30, when those contracts expire, and one provider executive estimated the shift would affect about 20 organizations across the state. Together, the three partners on this list account for roughly 200 jobs.
Comprehensive Autism Center: 62 Layoffs as Two California Clinics Close
Comprehensive Autism Center closed two of its three California clinics on May 31, laying off 62 employees, 27 in Riverside County and 35 in San Diego County, according to California WARN filings. The provider—which offers diagnostic testing and ABA therapy for children—kept only its Temecula headquarters open.
It operates under Unison Therapy Services, the platform in which private equity firm Ascend Capital Partners took a majority stake in January 2025, an example of the investor-backed consolidation that has reshaped autism care. The closures arrived as California weighs changes to how it sets Medicaid ABA rates.
Community Counseling of Bristol County: 52 Jobs Tied to MassHealth Funding Cuts
Community Counseling of Bristol County—a mental health and addiction provider in southeastern Massachusetts—filed notice to lay off 52 employees between June 30 and July 13 across Attleboro, Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton. The organization said about 4,700 clients in those communities rely on the affected care-management program, which it is working to transition to other services.
President and Chief Executive Andrew Dawley said the organization had hoped to continue, but that the realities of Medicaid spending “in the crosshairs of the state budget process made that impossible.” It is the third Behavioral Health Community Partner on this list cutting staff for the same reason, a pattern advocates warn falls on the care-coordination roles that keep high-need patients connected to treatment.
Centria Autism: 48 Layoffs at the ABA Provider’s Fresno, California Site
Centria Autism—one of the country’s largest ABA providers—filed notice to lay off 48 employees at its Fresno, California site effective July 31, according to a California WARN filing. The company is headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and operates across many states.
The California cut comes as autism providers nationally contend with tightening payer relationships and reimbursement scrutiny, including narrowing Medicaid managed-care coverage in markets such as Arizona, where the managed-care plan Mercy Care ended its contract with Centria this year while the provider remained in network with the state’s other Medicaid plans. The Fresno reduction adds to a string of 2026 workforce actions concentrated in California’s autism sector.
Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center: 40 Spokane Positions Cut in a Behavioral Health Staffing Redesign
Providence is eliminating about 40 positions at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, effective July 14, as part of a redesign of how the hospital staffs behavioral health. Announced May 11, the change replaces unlicensed psychiatric triage workers and mental health counselors with licensed therapists and specially trained certified nursing assistants in the emergency department and adult geropsychiatric unit. The figures come from the system’s public announcement and local reporting, and some affected workers may qualify for the new licensed roles.
Chief Executive Susan Stacey said community behavioral health needs “have changed, and it is our responsibility to adapt.” Patients in individual and group therapy will continue to see licensed therapists.
ABA Centers of America: An Undisclosed June Workforce Reduction Amid the Optum Split
ABA Centers of America cut staff in June, the most recent reduction on this list and one with no disclosed headcount. The autism provider is known for an out-of-network billing model that fueled rapid growth. In a public statement, the company characterized the move as a routine adjustment to its organizational needs and said it continues to “operate business as usual.”
The cuts followed Optum’s decision to stop covering ABA Centers patients, which forced two-week discharges and removed a revenue stream, as Acuity previously reported. The company is also defending fraud allegations from payers, including a $19 million counterclaim from Point32Health. Because the reduction is documented only through employee accounts and a general company statement rather than a WARN filing, its scope remains unclear.
Know of a behavioral health layoff we missed? Send us a tip (ideally with a WARN filing, company notice, or other documentation), and we’ll add verified reductions as they’re confirmed.
