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Oklahoma and Rhode Island joined West Virginia in providing the annual bonus to the salaries of school-based members holding the ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC). All three states received targeted assistance under ASHA's Focused Initiative that helped to enact legislation this year offering an annual salary supplement ranging from $1,750 to $5,000 for school-based clinicians and totaling $4.8 million annually in the three states.
In Oklahoma, salary supplement legislation was authorized in 2004 for a $5,000 annual bonus for SLPs, audiologists, and school psychologists working in schools. The Oklahoma legislature recently approved funds for the annual supplement.
In Rhode Island, the state budget bill included a provision granting all school-based SLPs within the state who hold the CCC an annual bonus of $1,750. This is in addition to a provision passed in 2002 which provided SLPs with access to the Rhode Island Professional Development Investment Fund for application and fee support while pursuing the CCC.
The Rhode Island Speech-Language-Hearing Association (RISHA) formed a Political Action Committee and continued to educate legislators about the necessity of offering a bonus as a means to recruit and retain qualified SLPs in the state schools. A grant from ASHA enabled the committee to hire a lobbying firm which was critical in navigating the legislative process.
ASHA's State Education Action Team (SEAT) also agreed to partner with the Oklahoma Speech-Language-Hearing Association (OSHA) and with Oklahoma school psychologists in an effort to pass salary supplement legislation as the state began to experience a shortage of qualified professionals in school settings and had difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified SLPs, audiologists, and school psychologists. ASHA contributed to the state advocacy campaign by sponsoring grassroots training and media training, with support from ASHA's public relations team, and awarded a grant to assist with payment of a lobbyist.
"One of the biggest factors in successfully passing a salary supplement was coordination with ASHA," said Mona Ryan, OSHA president. "The partnership helped the state association set up an infrastructure for a grassroots network and develop an action plan for working through the process of pursuing a salary supplement. Building the groundwork took years of effort. Trying to get around a lack of support was challenging and it took a while to get our message across."
For more information on targeted state salary supplement campaigns, please contact Janet Deppe, ASHA's Director of State Special Initiatives, via email at jdeppe@asha.org, or by phone at 800-498-2071, ext. 4447; or Susan Karr via email at skarr@asha.org or by phone at 800-498-2071, ext. 4308.
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