The Medical Licensure Board recently appointed the following members to the Therapeutic Recreation Licensure Committee: Dr. Jerry Jordan, CTRS; Ms. Amy Whitmarsh, CTRS; Mr. David Welch, CTRS;
Mr. Scott Jordan; and Mr. Orlando Perez.
This group will be meeting regularly with staff of the Medical Licensure Board to develop and implement rules and procedures for licensure of Therapeutic Recreation Specialists.
REQUEST FOR INPUT
On Friday, Nov. 6th, the Therapeutic Recreation Licensure Committee met for the first time with staff from the Medical Licensure Board to begin the development of policy and procedures that will be used to implement the Therapeutic Recreation Practice Act. While most portions of the law are straight forward and easily implemented, at least one section requires some careful study and deliberation. Subsection 4, part B.4. states: A Therapeutic Recreation Assistant means a person who provides therapeutic recreation services under the direct supervision of a licensed therapeutic recreation specialist. Such an individual may not conduct assessments and/or develop treatment plans.
The law clearly excludes from the law in Subsection 4, part B.5. Any individual providing recreational programs to a person with disabilities as a normal part of the leisure lifestyle of the person with disabilities. (Note: the law is not intended to control the provision of
general recreation programs for persons with disabilities).
By design, no standards or qualifications were established for a Therapeutic Recreation Assistant. However, the law clearly gives this individual the right to carry out all components of the therapeutic recreation process, under the direct supervision of a licensed therapeutic recreation specialist, excluding the conduction of assessments and the development of the treatment plan.
Other licensure committees have defined General Supervision as: the responsible supervision and control by the supervising Licensed Specialist. The Licensed Specialist is regularly and routinely on-site and, when not on-site, the supervising Licensed Specialist is on call and readily available physically or through direct telecommunication for consultation.
Other licensure committees have defined Direct Supervision as the: Licensed Specialists is immediately available to the person being supervised and maintains continued involvement in appropriate aspects of each treatment session.
NEED INPUT (Please briefly describe your setting and give your best response to the following questions). Send your responses by email to : jerry.jordan@okstate.edu.
1) Under what circumstances would general supervision be appropriate?
2) Under what circumstances would direct supervision be necessary?
3) How many Therapeutic Recreation Assistants can a licensed specialist realistically supervise using general supervision?
4) How many Therapeutic Recreation Assistants can a licensed specialist realistically supervise using direct supervision?
5) How many TR Student Interns can a licensed specialist realistically supervise?