AOTA Federal Efforts to Support School-Based Practitioners, the GROW SISPs Act and More
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Congress has provided an enormous amount of supplemental education funding to our schools through a newly created program, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant program. Since its creation and initial funding of nearly $15 billion in the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Congress has approved additional ESSER funds twice, totaling $150 billion in supplemental funding.
The purpose of the ESSER grants evolved as the pandemic changed. The funding was originally intended to help schools transition from in-person to virtual learning, adapting to support the need to reopen schools, and finally addressing the impact of the pandemic on students’ instructional loss and mental well-being.
The enormous amount of supplemental education funding provided to local, state, and federal education agencies created a unique opportunity to implement innovative policies. AOTA is working to take advantage of this opportunity to pressure policy makers to show they value occupational therapy in our schools through multiple channels, which include working with coalitions to support educating Congress, direct conversations with the U.S. Department of Education, and advocating for new and existing legislation.
2022 National Specialized Instructional Support Personnel appreciation week
AOTA has served as a co-chair for the National Alliance of Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (NASISP) since 2016. In that time, we have worked with and alongside NASISP to advance policies to support Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (SISP).
The term SISP was created by the Every Student Succeeds Act or ESSA, and covers a range of school-based service providers, including occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs). Designating SISP as a group was intended to expand all students’ access to different supports within schools. SISP are to general education what related services are to special education.
Every year, AOTA works with NASISP to organize a week of activities to continue the effort to raise awareness on the distinct value SISP provide. AOTA and NASISP work to promote the value of SISP by educating Congress and the Department of Education.
April 25 through April 29, 2022, was National Specialized Instructional Support Personnel Appreciation Week. During this week, NASISP held a Congressional briefing, a recording of which is available on NASISP's website, conducted a Twitter Town Hall, and had Congressional resolutions introduced in the House and Senate, with the Senate resolution receiving unanimous approval for the third time in a row.
GROW SISPS Act
Shortly before SISP week, responding to AOTA’s efforts to amplify the value all SISP create in our schools, Representative Marie Newman (D-IL) and Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) introduced H.R. 7219, the Growing, Recruiting, and Obtaining Workers in Specialized Instructional Support Personnel Services Act, or the GROW SISPS Act. This legislation is the first Congressional bill to propose the creation of a workforce program specifically aimed to address the shortages of SISP in our schools.
The GROW SISPS Act would establish a “Grow Your Own” program. Grow your Own is an internal training program meant to support current employees in retraining to give them the tools to better support the function of their institution. “Grow Your Own” programs currently exist for teachers and other school staff to retrain as administrators or other school staff to better support students’ needs.
The GROW SISPS Act would provide funding and other supports to allow individuals, such as paraprofessionals or administrative personnel, to complete the training and requirements to become a licensed and certified provider in any one of the designated SISP professions, including occupational therapy. GROW SISPS would provide funding to local school districts so support staff could get financial help with any requirements to apply for a program, assistance in paying for tuition, and even fees to help obtain whatever license or certification is needed to practice in that state.
You can join AOTA’s efforts, today! Go to our Legislative Action Center and send a letter urging Congress to pass the GROW SISPS Act.
Meeting with Department of Education staff
Efforts such as National SISP Appreciation Week are designed to keep the pressure up on policy makers to prioritize SISP issues and look to SISP as partners in the national effort to improve public education. While a majority of the issues that school-based occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants confront overlap with those of SISP, AOTA has also worked with policy makers to advance policies that would specifically utilize OTP in schools with more efficacy.
At a recent meeting with leaders in the Department of Education’s Offices of Special Education Program (OSEP) and Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), lobbyists from AOTA’s Federal Affairs department stressed the versatility and distinct value of occupational therapy in both special and general education. AOTA staff were joined by occupational therapists who have served or are currently serving in school leadership positions to discuss how schools can best utilize the skills occupational therapy practitioners possess, the unique challenges to addressing practitioner shortages, and how the districts that provide occupational therapists with a path to school leadership have seen great success in utilizing occupational therapy practitioners as leaders.
Still work to do
According to the 2021 Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, occupational therapy is the third most used service, but there is much more to be done. While there are school districts that allow occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants to practice the full scope of the services for which they are qualified, far too many limit the scope of what they can do, or which students they can help.
AOTA will continue to advocate for the role of occupational therapy in schools, but we need elected officials on the state and federal levels to hear about the amazing impact occupational therapy could have on all students. Please consider sharing your stories of your work in schools with AOTA using our Legislative Action Center.