FullBloom, an academic, behavioral and mental health provider for schools, acquired school-based mental health provider CharacterStrong. 

The deal, announced on Wednesday, supports FullBloom’s increasing focus on mental health, according to the company. 

“Mental health has emerged as one of the most pressing challenges facing our schools and communities,” Jeffrey Cohen, CEO of FullBloom, said in a statement. “The addition of CharacterStrong expands our school-based mental health footprint and brings us one step closer to offering a full-scale set of mental health products and services that does not exist in the K-12 market.”

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based FullBloom provides applied behavior analysis (ABA), specialized education, intervention services, professional development and, in recent years, mental health programming. The company partners with schools to deliver its services and has served over six million students since it was founded in 2016. 

Private equity firm American Securities acquired FullBloom in December 2021. 

Auburn, Washington-based CharacterStrong provides multi-tier PreK-12 services in 50 states and 47 countries. The company offers anxiety, depression and executive functioning interventions along with progress monitoring tools and educator training. It plans to launch trauma services in early 2025.

The CharacterStrong acquisition comes two years after FullBloom acquired EmpowerU, a mental health coaching provider. In June 2024, Specialized Education Services, Inc. (SESI), a division of FullBloom, acquired two Arizona facilities from Mesa, Arizona-based Lexington Life Academy. SESI operates 95 private day schools and over 90 in-district classrooms for students with academic, behavioral and social-emotional needs. 

Another school-based, autism-focused deal closed in recent months. In November, workforce solutions provider Kelly (Nasdaq: KELYA, KELYB) acquired childhood therapeutics company Children’s Therapy Center (CTC). 

A slew of autism therapy deals have been completed so far in 2025, including Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health’s acquisition of Strawberry Fields, Autism Spectrum Interventions’ acquisition of Quality Behavior Solutions, private equity firm Nautic Partners’s Proud Moments ABA acquisition and Already Autism Health’s acquisitions of  CABS Autism & Behaviour Specialists and Commonwealth ABA.