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How We Began
Mission Alpha Advocacy (MAA) was founded by a small group of service members, veterans, and military spouses to advocate for improved access to quality applied behavior analysis (ABA) services for their children.
What began as a very small grassroots effort grew into establishing a national nonprofit with a commitment to improve access to not only ABA services for the military autism community, but to improve access to worldclass healthcare for the larger military community of exceptional needs families.
Advocating for autism services was only the beginning for Mission Alpha. We have successfully advocated and created legislation to streamline the specialty medical care referrals. Prior to the creation of this law, military families reported lapses in specialty medical care (ex: speech therapy, cardiology, or developmental pediatrics) when moving to new duty stations. The active-duty family member was required to see a primary care provider (PCP) at their new duty station BEFORE they were eligible to receive a new referral for specialty care. Family members reported a wait time of weeks to months to schedule an appointment with a new PCP and then another wait of several months to see a specialist. This new law allows the active-duty family member to receive a specialty care referral from their PCP BEFORE moving to a new duty station which eliminates an extra step and decreases the lapse in medical care.
The MAA team has successfully sustained long-term advocacy efforts since our founding in December 2021 to ensure all TRICARE beneficiaries have access to quality ABA services. Our all-volunteer team has traveled to Washington, D.C. and held countless meetings with Congressional offices raising awareness of the barriers and discriminatory policies within TRICARE's Autism Care Demonstration (ACD) program [for more information follow this link]. As a result of MAA's advocacy efforts, Congress directed the Department of Defense to enter into a contract with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to complete an independent analysis of the ACD. The independent analysis began in 2023 and is expected to conclude in the Summer of 2025.
In 2020, 9% (146,824) of military dependents were enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP)
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Military spouses, children, or adult dependents with special needs and disabilities receive support through EFMP
Our Team.
MAA's team is composed of individuals with diverse backgrounds and expertise. We are united by the common goal to ensure all military families have access to worldclass healthcare and experience a high quality of life.
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Dr. Kristi Cabiao, DO
CEO & Founder of MAA
Dr. Cabiao earned a doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine from A.T. Still University and draws from her experience of providing family medicine to diverse individuals. She is the mother of a neurodiverse family and spouse to a retired Air Force member. Dr. Cabiao has raised awareness of the military autism community by speaking at national conferences and to Congressionally mandated committees reviewing TRICARE's autism services. She has been the recipient of the 2021 National Autism Law Summit Rookie Advocate of the Year, the 2022 Armed Forces Insurance Pope Air Force Base Military Spouse of the Year Award, and the 2024 Caregiving.com IDD Advocate Caregiving of the Year Award.
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Dr. Gina Green, PhD, BCBA-D
Board of Directors
Dr. Green is currently a consultant in private practice. She co-founded the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts and was its Executive Director/CEO 2009-2022. Previously she held faculty positions at SIU, UMass Medical School, and SDSU, and research positions at the New England Center for Children and E.K. Shriver Center. Dr. Green has authored publications on interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities as well as experimental and applied behavior analysis. Dr. Green is a former president of the Association for Behavior Analysis and the California Association for Behavior Analysis, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. She currently serves as a volunteer with the ABA Coding Coalition, Autism Commission on Quality, Association for Services in Autism Treatment, and B.F. Skinner Foundation. She began supporting military family efforts to secure TRICARE coverage of ABA for beneficiaries with autism in 2007.
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Naomi Love, CED, CMM
Board of Directors
Naomi Love, CED, CMM is a Program and Event Manager for Stanford University. Her husband, Brian, is a retired Army Special Forces Officer. Together, they have two sons; Patrick (22) and Conner (15). Patrick is a young adult on the Autism Spectrum Disorder who also has an Intellectual Disorder. Naomi has been a special needs advocate for over 20 years now navigating the world of adult disability resources. Her goal is to help ensure there are meaningful lifelong supports for the individuals with a disability; she also happily provides guidance to their families especially those within the military community.
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Mónica Palma, M.Ed., BCBA, J.D.
Board of Directors
Mónica Palma is a Staff Attorney for the San Antonio Legal Services Association (SALSA), a non-profit legal organization providing free legal services to clients with civil legal issues who are would otherwise be unable to access legal services.
Mónica is SALSA’s first Equal Justice Works Fellow and leads the legal home in a medical-legal partnership at Morgan’s Multi-Assistance Center (MAC), a first of its kind collaborative care community center. Mónica is a proud Colombian-American and grew up in Connecticut. Mónica attended the University of Hartford for undergrad majoring in special education, prior to teaching in public, private, and charter schools. Mónica later earned her Master of Education at Texas State University where she graduated with a concentration in Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Mónica obtained her board certification in behavior analysis and as a BCBA served as the director of clinical operations for an ABA clinic in San Antonio, TX (military city, USA) for six years. In this role Monica worked primarily with military families accessing ABA services through Tricare. Her experiences serving this population were instrumental in her decision to pursue a law degree so that she could better serve the community. Mónica graduated in May of 2023 from St. Mary’s University School of Law earning the Dean’s Award, Adele Advocate for the Poor Award, and the Catherine Stone Rock of Justice Award.