The Frontline-backed pediatric platform takes over two former A Bridge to Achievement sites and plans an Adult Daily Living program, its first step beyond children’s services.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — JoyBridge Kids has acquired two North Carolina autism clinics formerly operated by A Bridge to Achievement and will use them to launch its first adult service line, according to a May 8, 2026 report from trade publication Behavioral Health Business.
A Bridge to Achievement, LLC, an ABA provider was founded around 2017 by Dana Alley, then executive director of the Piedmont Down Syndrome Support Network. The outlet and the ABA Resource Center reported in April and May 2026 that A Bridge to Achievement had closed, citing staff social-media posts; the company’s website remained live as of late May 2026.
Deal terms were not disclosed. Neither JoyBridge nor Frontline Healthcare Partners has issued a press release on the transaction as of publication.
The acquired sites will host JoyBridge’s first Adult Daily Living, or ADL, program. The company has not previously operated adult-facing services. With the two North Carolina sites, JoyBridge counts 26 clinics and in-home options across Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina, according to the publication. The platform serves children with autism and related diagnoses through ABA, speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, feeding therapy, counseling and psychological testing.
JoyBridge’s move into adult care is narrow by design. The new service line lives inside two acquired clinics, not across the broader platform, and it lands in the one state in the company’s footprint with a Medicaid pathway built for adults on the spectrum.
Why North Carolina
The geography is not incidental. North Carolina is the only state in JoyBridge’s footprint with an explicit adult-autism Medicaid mechanism. The state’s Research-Based Behavioral Health Treatment benefit, known as RB-BHT, covers Medicaid beneficiaries with autism. NC Medicaid received CMS approval effective July 1, 2021 to extend RB-BHT to beneficiaries over age 21; coverage for beneficiaries under 21 had been available previously via EPSDT. Tennessee and Georgia, where JoyBridge operates its other clinics, have no comparable adult-autism benefit.
North Carolina’s ABA spend has also climbed sharply. The state Medicaid program paid out roughly $122 million for ABA in fiscal 2022 and is projecting about $639 million in fiscal 2026, according to KFF Health News and NPR, reporting NC state Medicaid figures in December 2025. Reporting by North Carolina Health News in April 2026 separately noted state and federal Medicaid ABA spending in NC surpassed $505 million in 2025, with projections topping $1 billion by 2027. The covered population grew from 3,844 beneficiaries in 2022 to 13,447 in 2025. The state Department of Health and Human Services has signaled it is revising Clinical Coverage Policy 8F, the rule that governs the benefit.