Learn about Autism Care Partners!

Jim serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Autism Care Partners (ACP). With 20+ years of progressive executive healthcare leadership, Jim sets the operating and growth strategy of ACP. Inherent to his leadership is the core belief that all children with a behavioral need can live lives of fulfillment through evidence-based, individually tailored care. This philosophy guides ACP on a daily basis. Throughout his career, Jim has focused on improving the delivery of, and access to, healthcare for individuals with intellectual and behavioral needs. Prior to joining ACP, Jim was President of Beacon Health Options (now Carelon), where he oversaw over $600M in revenue and led a national team of over 1,000 employees.

Cathy Weigle is Chief Operating Officer at Autism Care Partners and leads the organization’s enterprise operational support divisions including People Operations, Talent Acquisition, Brand and Marketing, Community Outreach, Payor Relations and IT. Cathy joined ACP in April 2021. Prior to coming to ACP, Cathy served in leadership positions in government funded insurance programs managing integration and strategic operational growth initiatives. She leads with wonder on how we can continually improve operations for our clients, our internal teams and our wider stakeholders and tenacity to implement the changes to make this happen.

As the Chief Development Officer, Nick is accountable for developing and overseeing execution all growth, analytics, payor partnerships, payment integrity, and strategic initiatives at ACP. He brings over 15 years of healthcare experience serving special needs populations, spanning across managed care, managed behavioral health, and outpatient specialty provider sectors. Nick spearheaded the Medicaid and Dual-Eligible division at Humana before joining Beacon Health Strategies (now Carelon) to lead regional growth and development. Before joining ACP, Nick led growth at Commonwealth Care Alliance, a specialty health plan focused on high needs populations. Nick is passionate about improving the quality of life, outcomes, and overall care experience of the underserved, underrepresented, and most complex populations. In his spare time, Nick can be found doing any variety of outdoor activities with his two boys, wife, and dog.

Andrea is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Board Certified and Licensed Behavior Analyst. Dr. Lavigne joined Autism Care Partners in January 2018 with a specialization in the early identification and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder using Applied Behavior Analysis. Dr. Lavigne earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Rhode Island before going on to earn a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Boston College. She earned her certification in Applied Behavior Analysis at the University of Massachusetts. Dr. Lavigne earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rhode Island under the mentorship of Dr. Mark Wood with a focus on neuropsychological assessment and research. Dr. Lavigne serves as the Chief of Service
Delivery, overseeing the clinical service delivery across the entire organization. Dr. Lavigne also serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Rhode Island where she teaches Applied Behavior Analysis.

Lauren is a licensed and board-certified behavior analyst. She joined Autism Care Partners in February of 2019 as a BCBA in our Rhode Island centers becoming the Regional Clinical Director in January of 2021. She graduated from Rhode Island College with an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education and Special Education, a Masters Degree in Special Education and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Applied Behavior Analysis from Salve Regina University. Lauren worked as a special education teacher in Providence Public Schools for 7 years before joining ACP.

Dr. Costa is a licensed clinical psychologist in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Dr. Costa joined Autism Care Partners as a post-doctoral trainee in 2019 specializing in assessment of autism spectrum disorders and ADHD. Upon completing her post-doctoral training, Dr. Costa joined Autism Care Partner as a full-time clinical psychologist and currently serves as the Director of Psychology. Dr. Costa developed an early passion for supervision and training and serves as the training coordinator for pre-doctoral interns and post-doctoral fellows. Dr. Costa earned her Psy.D. in clinical psychology with a focus in children and families and global mental health in 2019 from William James College.

Melanie is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who has worked with the company since 2011 across centers, homes, schools and the community. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Keene State College in 2011 and Masters Degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Ball State University in 2016. She has worked with children ages 2-16 with ASD and has ABA licensure in Vermont and Massachusetts.

Courtney is a board certified and licensed behavior analyst. She has been working in the field since 2013 and is passionate about ABA and the growth of her clients. She worked as a Managing BCBA in the North region and later became the Assistant Vice President of Service Delivery. Courtney earned her bachelor’s degree from Lesley University and received her master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis from Simmons University.

Cameron started at Autism Care Partners in 2020 as an Operations Manager. He is a licensed BCBA in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He has been working with people with developmental delays and/or ASD as a direct support professional and later as a behavior technician since 2011. He obtained his BCBA certification in 2018. He received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from Fairfield University and his master’s degree in applied behavior analysis from Salve Regina University.

Caitlan is a licensed and board-certified behavior analyst. She joined Autism Care Partners in September of 2021 as the Managing BCBA of our Worcester, MA center. She graduated from Arizona State University with an undergraduate degree in Psychology and went on to pursue her master’s Degree in Psychology with a concentration in Applied Behavior Analysis from Capella University. Caitlan has worked in the field of ABA for over 15 years in a variety of settings and is passionate about early intervention and compassionate care. She is currently the AVP of Service Delivery for our Worcester, Holyoke, Amherst, Ludlow, MA, and Avon, CT centers.

Jill graduated from the accelerated bachelor’s to master’s program in Speech Language Pathology, at the University of Rhode Island in 2017. She joined the ACP team in 2020 as a Speech Language Pathologist in the Warwick, RI center, and is now Director of Speech Language Pathology across RI, MA, VT, NH and CT. Jill is licensed in RI and MA and provides direct care to clients in addition to leading the team of SLP providers. She is passionate about clients accessing high-quality care to support their development in all areas.

Emily is a licensed and board-certified occupational therapist. She graduated from D’Youville College in Buffalo, NY with her master’s degree in Occupational Therapy. Emily previously worked in early intervention/preschool setting before joining the Autism Care Partners team in September of 2020 at our Warwick, RI center. Emily brings clinical experience in supporting client independence in the areas of fine motor, visual motor, sensory regulation, social participation, and self- help skills through a client centered and play-based approach. She also specializes in feeding therapy working on supporting oral motor development and oral sensory processing delays.