YOUR HELP TO REACH OUT TO IDFPR AND GOVENOR PRITZKER IS NEEDED FOR SLPAS TO CONTINUE SERVICING FAMILIES IN EARLY INTERVERNTION!!!
The latest update is that SLPAs have been unnecessarily unemployed for almost two weeks. It has come to the point that after this amount of time, SLPAs have had to turn the children they were servicing for speech and language over to their SLP supervisors, or if they don't have room on their caseloads, the cases are being turned back to the service coordinators to find new therapists. If new therapists are not available, the family has to be returned to the waiting list.
Children and families are losing their trusted SLPA providers in the midst of a pandemic and uncertainty. They deserve to continue to receive services, and receive those services from the therapist they are familiar with and have built a relationship with. They do not deserve to lose their services and be put on a waiting list for a new provider they do not know.
Service coordinators in the CFCs are starting to have to unnecessarily to match children with new families, a huge inconvenience and waste of time and resources. There are not enough Early Intervention Credentialed SLP therapists to take over all of the kids who are now losing services and those children will return to the wait list, and will have NO speech and language services at all until a new provider is found.
SLPAS have been blocked from earning a living, because in person therapy visits are not possible right now. Most SLPAs in Early intervention are 1099 employees and have not received Unemployment. Many are told by IDES they qualify for $0.
The reason SLPA professionals are blocked from performing Telehealth services is that their practice act states Supervision has to be "on site" and "in view" which is physically impossible right now. SLP students had the same issue and were granted a variance on April 6, 2020 while SLPAs and the children they serve are still wating for a variance to this language to be approved by IDFPR.
A variance for SLPAs was submitted to IDFPR on April by ISHA on April 16th. It is almost the very same variance that was granted to graduate STUDENTS who did not even have the responsibility for a caseload of children. We are asking for everyone who is willing to reach out to IDFPR and let them know how the delay in approving this variance is impacting the children, the providers, and the coordinators. We need to let them know that every day they choose not to approve this variance is a day that all of these individuals are negatively impacted.
Governor Pritzker in his Tuesday address this week credited IDFPR for completing many important items for the state of Illinois. We need Governor Pritzker to encourage IDFPR to approve this variance immediately so that children can resume their services and SLPA's can resume thier jobs.
PLEASE CONTACT IDFPR AND GOVERNOR PRITZKER AND LET THEM KNOW THAT WE NEED THEM TO TAKE ACTION !!!
Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
Contact: Jerry Miller, Board Liaison
Phone: 217-785-0820
E-mail: jerry.r.miller@illinois.gov
Governor Pritzker :
Assistance Request:
https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/gov/contactus/pages/assistanceRequest.aspx
Address: State Capitol 207 Statehouse Springfield, IL 62706.
Phone: 217/782-0244.
Fax 217/524-4049.