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Q&A
Efforts to address shortages in occupational and speech therapy providers
2:22:06
ยท
3 min
Suzanne Sanchez from the DOE explained their efforts to address shortages in occupational and speech therapy providers:
- Partnering with the division of human resources for incentive programs
- Offering loan forgiveness in high-needs districts
- Providing scholarship programs with local universities
- Implementing tuition reimbursement and course-taking opportunities
- Attending hiring halls, university events, and professional organization events for recruitment
- Posting a new related services RFP with increased rates and a day rate model to attract more providers
- Working with city partners for additional resources
The DOE is also expanding the mass waiver program, allowing current staff to work additional hours, and inviting students to weekend or after-school academies for services.
Suzanne Sanchez
2:22:06
Yes.
2:22:07
I can speak to, in our in our conversations with other large school districts, they're all sharing that they are having facing significant challenges around identifying and hiring occupational and especially bilingual speech therapists.
2:22:24
Many of them rely over 60% other school districts on vendors.
2:22:31
And, we are fortunate to have a significant workforce of over 7,000 related service providers that are public school staff here.
2:22:39
In terms of mitigating, these national shortages that are really concerning across the board to all of us, we have partnered with our our colleagues in the division of human resources and have a number of innovative, incentive programs for eligible and licensed credential providers to come work for us from loan forgiveness in in high needs districts, to scholarship programs with local universities where their entire tuition is paid to come work here, as long as well as other incentives around tuition reimbursement and the ability to take courses.
2:23:15
We have often at every hiring hall, universities, pub, professional organization events to recruit and and seek to find folks to come and do this work.
2:23:27
In schools where we do not have a public school provider available, like Jessica mentioned, preschool services are largely, provided by vendors and non public school staff because the majority of those students are not in public school settings.
2:23:42
We have posted now a very an innovative related services RFP, that take feedback from our community members, including current providers and clinicians.
2:23:52
Chair, our current model of vendor services utilizes a fee for service model, and if the student doesn't come to school that day, the clinician does not get paid, and that's almost impossible for someone to sustain.
2:24:06
The new RFP has is increased rates, but also has an equivalent of a day rate, that we are gonna be able to utilize where it's necessary.
2:24:16
We that was the biggest point of feedback that we received over the years from constituents.
2:24:21
We are very optimistic that once that RFP is in place, which will be sometime next school year, that we will see an increase in service provision for students in those categories.
2:24:31
And we continue to work with our city partners around additional resources for, our much needed related service provider.
Rita Joseph
2:24:39
I have a school that reached out.
2:24:40
Their provider is on maternal maternity leave, and there's no replacement.
2:24:45
So what happens to these children that, and no one wants to travel to the Bronx to provide the services?
2:24:52
What do we do then?
Suzanne Sanchez
2:24:53
What do we do?
2:24:53
We we reach out to our agency or vendor partners, and we we work with the district team to find a provider to come and cover that work.
2:25:03
We also have expanded this year what's called the mass waiver, which allows, New York City public school providers to pick up work as, like, an independent like, using the voucher.
2:25:13
And we've expanded that significantly this school year and have approximately 1500 current staff who are eligible to work under the waiver.
2:25:23
And and we would in in that in that case, we would invite all those students to a weekend or after school academy as well.