Catalight and Frontera Partner to Reduce Cost and Improve Quality of Autism Care

Catalight will provide access to Frontera technology through its provider network

DENVER and WALNUT CREEK, Calif., Jan. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As rising costs and inconsistent quality of care plague the autism industry, Frontera Health and Catalight today announced a new strategic partnership to address these critical challenges.

Catalight is a leading nonprofit helping increase access to autism care. Frontera leverages its proprietary AI-powered solutions to reduce clinician burden and enable care to scale.

Through the partnership, Catalight will leverage Frontera's AI technology to support parent-mediated care delivery, streamline clinical assessment and documentation, and expand access to high-quality autism care through service and training.

"We're proud to partner with Catalight to deploy Frontera's technology to support parent-mediated care across their network of providers," said Amol Deshpande, CEO and co-founder of Frontera Health. "Catalight has some of the most rigorous clinical standards in the industry and their selection of Frontera reflects our model and technology as we strive to better serve clinicians, improve the quality of care and reduce costs for families."

With rising healthcare costs and practitioner shortages across the industry, Frontera's solutions help create a trusted, replicable approach to help ease the administrative burdens of clinicians while accelerating access to care for families. Catalight plans to integrate the technology into its tools for assessments, care services and newly expanded Catalight Academy training services for practitioners.

"Catalight and Frontera are very much aligned on values – it's all about access and sustainability. Services today are often driven by quantity over quality," said Catalight's Chief Health Officer Tracy Gayeski, Psy. D, MBA. "The system today for many is too hard to navigate, too slow to diagnose and treat, and costs too much with little evidence of effectiveness. We've found a partner in Frontera to  challenge the status quo and help reimagine the future of the industry. We're responsibly disrupting for the benefit of the individuals and families we serve. With Frontera's advanced technology and Catalight's breadth and depth in  clinical research and care services, we're coming together to lead change by building on the strengths of both organizations."

Catalight, one of the largest behavioral health nonprofits in the United States with a network of more than 16,000 practitioners, serves 24,000 patients and families annually. Frontera has pioneered industry-first technology solutions helping clinicians see more patients, better serve families and help reduce costs – while piloting across their own clinics in New Mexico and Colorado.

About Frontera Health

Frontera is an AI-driven healthcare technology company transforming pediatric behavioral health for families, providers, and health systems. Partnering with care organizations, Frontera enables more consistent, high-quality therapy by reducing administrative complexity and increasing transparency across clinical teams, sessions, and settings.

Its platform supports core elements of care delivery, including assessment and diagnostic reporting, program development, video-based clinical insights, and clinician–family collaboration. By embedding machine learning into real-world workflows, Frontera helps providers scale responsibly, make faster decisions, and improve outcomes without adding clinician burden. In parallel, Frontera's direct-to-parent experience guides families through the behavioral health ecosystem, ensuring clarity, engagement, and continuity of care throughout a child's journey.

About Catalight

Catalight breaks down barriers and biases to create a more equitable world so people with developmental disabilities can choose their path to care. Catalight provides access to innovative, individualized care services, clinical research and advocacy — all powered by intelligent technology. Through the work of affiliate partners, Easterseals Hawaii and Easterseals Northern California, Catalight and its family of companies support people with developmental disabilities and their families across their care journey.

The Catalight family of companies is one of the largest behavioral health networks in the nation, with more than 16,000 practitioners serving 24,000 clients and families annually. Backed by more than a decade of experience and a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, we are reimagining the way people with developmental disabilities and their families experience healthcare. Catalight's goal is to ensure that individuals and families receive timely access to evidence-based treatment, including naturalistic developmental and language-based services, applied behavior analysis and speech therapy.

SOURCE Catalight Foundation, a California non-profit corporation