NEED OT info (Occupational Therapy) from other OTs

amother

Wed, Nov 07 2012, 6:41 pm

Im in Brooklyn.

When and how can you apply to work as an OT for the Board of Ed?

Can you apply at any point in the school year?

What does the application process consist of?

How can I get started?

What are the pros and cons of working for the Bd of Ed, relative to private?

Any related advice will be very much appreciated.

TIA

Fabulous

Wed, Nov 07 2012, 6:49 pm

I am not at OT but I have a friend who is, so I can help with the pro/con a bit.

Pro of Board of Ed: Regular hours of around 8-3 and you have off legal holidays and whenever school has off. You may have some free time if you don't have anyone scheduled for every second of the day and you get paid regardless. Not so much paperwork. Regular pay, benefits including sick days, insurance etc...

Cons of Board of Ed: Not so much money. Don't get to choose cases or clientele I.e. frum kids or elderly or etc.... Can be children that are SEVERELY disabled. Some people don't enjoy it or are not cut out for it.

Cons of working private: Responsible for your own case load, you may not have a case load. Often it can mean traveling to homes (travel time and expenses). Often long hours to get the amount of cases and $$ that you want. A LOT of paperwork.

Pros of working private: You can choose more of the clientele, you can make more money because you can take MANY cases.

My friend, a frum married woman with a child MUCH prefers the B.O.E. work. It's regular hours, good pay and not a lot of stress.

SingALong

Wed, Nov 07 2012, 8:10 pm

U can apply to become an independent contractor/approved provider for by BOE, it takes a few weeks for application process to go thru. Then u r on list of approved providers and someone may call you for hire, you send the billing directly to BOE via computer and they mail you a check. Application is online in BOE website...I have link at home, u can pm me in a week I can email it to you then.

There are various conflicts of interest issues which I never got, like if u do EI u can't do cpse, if u work in a school, u can't do private appts with students from your d hooks district...there's probably a list out there somewhere.

You can also work for an agency like Omni, yeled vyalda, etc and they give you clients, you do your own schedule

SingALong

Wed, Nov 07 2012, 8:10 pm

U can apply to become an independent contractor/approved provider for by BOE, it takes a few weeks for application process to go thru. Then u r on list of approved providers and someone may call you for hire, you send the billing directly to BOE via computer and they mail you a check. Application is online on BOE website...I have link at home, u can pm me in a week I can email it to you then.

There are various conflicts of interest issues which I never got, like if u do EI u can't do cpse, if u work in a school, u can't do private appts with students from your schools district...there's probably a list out there somewhere.

You can also work for an agency like Omni, yeled vyalda, etc and they give you clients, you do your own schedule

1tiredmom

Wed, Nov 07 2012, 8:35 pm

I am an OT presently working for the DOE. After years of treating kids in their homes and in public schools and yeshivas as a contract therapist, making a whole lot of $$$ but working 6 days/wk (and sometimes even on Motzai Shabbos!) with tons of paper work, and having to pay $$$ for health insurance, I quit. I now work normal hours, with variable amounts of stress, amazing benefits, get paid for lots of legal holidays (and paid the week for Sandy!!) and 3 weeks with paid vacation, good working conditions, usually good staff and OT supervisors. Principals have t let us take time off for Yom Tovim, and you can work out leaving early for those early Shabbosim. There are times we have to take" paper work" (ie: computer work) home, as there usually isn't enough time in school to stay up to date with the daily progress reports, annual reviews, triannual reviews...no job is without some take home work, realistically.
cons: not much $. We are UFT members, but we don't have the same contract as the teachers and SLPs, and dont ever reach their pay scale. We all supplement with home care (geriatric, EI, or take some RSA's.
Also, we have to work Fridays, erev Yom Tovim, chol Hamoad Succos, and fast days. Days that we take off are either not paid, or potentially you can use your sick days. (Depends on yur principal)
How to find out more info-go on the DOE's website: schools.nyc.gov
good luck! let me know if you want more info!

Beach Bum

Wed, Nov 07 2012, 9:14 pm

I am an OT working in the DOE. This is my third year there after working a few years privately. As 1tiredmom said, hours, benifits and vacation are great. The working conditions are not bad but it depends on each school. I find that working for the DOE is less stressful than privately. You are not expected to be treating back to back all day and there is paperwork time. I personally have never brought any work home, but I guess it depends on the person. Sometimes I am a bit behind on my paperwork but I don't stress it, and get it done when I have a chance. Another perk working for the DOE is they give you continuing education money and they offer courses throughout the year that you can attend without using your days. There is also flexibility to how you treat - individual, group, and in and out of the classroom, which makes the therapy sessions more interesting.
Cons are the relatively low salary and minimal pay increases. However, if you calculate how much you make per hour, with al the vacation days, its not too bad. Also, you get paid for absences/cancelled sessions which is a huge plus. Hours are not flexible, so you need to be aware of that before you begin. Principals do not tolerate lateness/leaving early. Also depending on your babysitting situation, erev y't and chol hamoed can be a challange.
As far as I know, you can apply throughout the year. The person I contacted was Rita Vanekes...not sure if its still her. Check the doe website and I am sure you can find a number to call. It doesn't hurt to apply and find out about whats available. When I applied there was one day that they interviewed a bunch of people. We had an interview and had to fill out some paperwork based on a sample evaluation they gave us.
Good luck!

amother

Thu, Aug 28 2014, 12:27 am

Hi I am an OT- I would like to follow up on this thread to find out if people are still complaining about the salary with the new contract. I looked into the DOE and found that the salary for OT is around 65,000 for 10 months of work (by May 2015). That sounds pretty great to me. Also I would like to hear from all of you if working in a bad district/ neighborhood (like the South Bronx) would negatively affect you or make the working conditions less tolerable. It seems that people are very happy with the DOE perks, but no one seems to be Crazy in love with the actual job.