Enhanced SETSS Pendency SEIT pay rate Brooklyn

↑ seeker ↓

Wed, Sep 07 2022, 6:26 pm

amother Slategray wrote:

Probably because there are way (by a mile) children who need academic help and are interested in setss as opposed to OT. Even if a child can use some OT, the parent is less likely to pursue it than if a child is struggling with basic math/reading and is struggling in school.

For many kids who need OT or the like, it is really debilitating not to have it. True there is strength in numbers and this is less common than special ed, but the same way the first few enhanced rate setss cases went through litigation, there should be some type of class action going on for the hundreds or thousands of children who have services that are federally mandated that the DOE is FAILING en masse to provide. I'm an imamother internet yenta, where are the actual whisteblowers?

↑ seeker ↓

Wed, Sep 07 2022, 6:35 pm

amother Aster wrote:

Are you saying high 70s is too low? Im that’s why I’m asking. Like am I being taken advantage of?

Compared to other providers, no, high 70s is not low. Are all providers collectively being taken advantage of? I don't know because I don't know what the overhead costs of running the agency are, but I can't give a definite no either. I would welcome an agency exec or accountant who wants to explain where it's all going but the cut they take is huge.

When I take these cases at those rates, though, I don't feel like I'm being taken advantage of because I feel that it's worth the service they are providing to me - they match me with cases in my area that fit my schedule and areas of competence, I don't need to interface with the DOE at all which has been a huge source of frustration in the past, they pay on time, they provide or subsidize professional development, they are on top of things like report deadlines (which is really not a big deal to do on your own but if you have a lot of cases and not amazing organizational skills it can help to have a third party filter it through.)

I don't know about other agencies but Encore (which I've never worked for but shared a student with) brought in a team of crack professionals to consult on the case I was involved with. It wasn't an ABA student but they brought in a BCBA to observe and advise behavioral strategies with a child who was resistant to regular interventions. This is something an independent provider would not do. And even with that, the provider was getting paid twice as much as she would have for doing it on her own through DOE. So I'm ok to fargin the agency their 40% or so cut. HOWEVER not all agencies are that good, and this is why I think DOE should crack down. Taxpayers should not have to pay $150 an hour for services that the DOE could technically staff in-house. If you're paying $150 an hour then it should be for stellar service for the kids who need stellar service (again, this case I was involved with was very special. Since then, I've seen maybe 2 other kids who had enhanced rate who actually, really, truly needed it. Everyone else was only getting it because why should the providers work for DOE when they can work for higher rates?)

↑ seeker ↓

Wed, Sep 07 2022, 6:41 pm

amother Whitesmoke wrote:

How much can someone who is very experienced and has a specific niche ask 85? 90? 95?
I'm asking people who are in the field, not other random therapists, etc.

Depends what your specific niche is. Did you train in something highly specialized and have a certification to show it? Do you have bilingual certification in a language that is hard to find (huge demand for Mandarin, for example)?

Kriah specialist won't fly.

amother

↑ Whitesmoke

Wed, Sep 07 2022, 6:46 pm

seeker wrote:

Not kriah. A different area. I took 3 intense trainings in that area and train people regularly in it. I was called down to an agency to give a seminar on this topic and train SETSS providers in the agency I work for. Wondering what I can ask for the students I deal with.

amother

↑ Aster

Wed, Sep 07 2022, 8:19 pm

I think that’s why I was referring to. But slps just be forewarned that it’s a very dif job. Your with the child for a lot longer than the 25 min of your sessions out of class. Your navigating classroom dynamics and many times teachers who aren’t exactly welcoming or respectful. Parents expect (rightly so) a lot more involvement from a special Ed provider than form a speech therapist. I’m not discouraging you. It’s still a great job and I love that I can help kids in a meaningful way but it has its challenges..

↑ seeker

Wed, Sep 07 2022, 9:56 pm

I disagree - at least in the schools I'm in, the SETSS and SLPs do fairly similar work. Yes the SETSS session is longer, but that gives you a lot more flexibility - you don't have to break up just when you're getting into it. The amount of parental contact is more if you see the kid more but not proportionately so and since you're seeing each kid for longer, you have fewer parents to connect with.

Sure it has its challenges but I don't see the challenges as being very different than speech, and in terms of paperwork it's much better because you get much fewer IEP reports and invoices. For each SETSS kid that I see one hour per day (I.e. 4-5 times per week) the speech therapist is seeing about 5-6 kids (assuming some kids have once a week and some have twice, but almost none have more, and averaging 30 minutes per session.) So that's about 3 times as many parents, 3x IEPs, 3x monthly signatures - PER PERIOD.

I don't feel like my job is easy but I'm not jealous of the speech therapists.