Evaluation by unlicensed practitioner

amother

Honeydew

Thu, Jan 12 2017, 10:55 am

Vent, please tell me if I'm wrong for being so upset.
My daughter is Bh very bright and ahead of the pack, and we've been considering pushing her ahead to the next grade, based on her teacher's recommendation. The school is okay with it, but they asked that I take her for a professional evaluation before pushing her ahead. I called a well known community organization for a referral on where to get her evaluated. I took time off from work and paid $100 out of pocket to take her to the evaluator they had recommended.

When I got there I was taken aback that it was in her home, not an office, and it seemed very informal, she did not have a checklist, didn't take notes, and I just didn't get a professional vibe. Turns out she is not licensed, she's a playgroup Morah who is 'very experienced'. She played with my daughter for 45 minutes, gave an opinion that I thought was way off base, and will not provide any written documentation or report.

I was furious that the agency sent me to someone who was so unqualified. I had it out with the agency and they maintain that she is 'very experienced' and they sent me for an overall developmental evaluation, she didn't need more. I said she is no more qualified than my daughter's current Morah, and a real therapist would have taken insurance.

cnc

Thu, Jan 12 2017, 10:58 am

amother wrote:

Not necessarily do all licensed therapists accept insurance but I can't believe that a professional referral agency would recommend an unlicensed professional!

amother

Honeydew

Thu, Jan 12 2017, 11:03 am

cnc wrote:

Not necessarily do all licensed therapists accept insurance but I can't believe that a professional referral agency would recommend an unlicensed professional!

Agreed, my point was that if I was going to a licensed professional I could have tried to find someone who takes insurance. I was really upset that they sent me to someone who is unlicensed and clearly not qualified to do an evaluation.

5*Mom

Thu, Jan 12 2017, 11:57 am

It wasn't appropriate for the agency to refer you to an unlicensed professional, it wasn't appropriate for them not to tell you, AND it was also your responsibility to do due diligence by asking questions and finding out all the relevant information about the woman before taking your child. You should have asked about qualifications and licensure, about what kind of evaluation was going to be performed, and about insurance if that was important to you. A referral from an agency is just a suggestion. You have to research it from there.

miami85

Thu, Jan 12 2017, 12:53 pm

amother wrote:

Sounds very strange old is your child? You can get a CPSE/CSE evaluation at no cost and that would give you a cognitive evaluation and likely an educational evaluation. Your child would not get services but you'll get idea of how she is functioning.

amother

Powderblue

Thu, Jan 12 2017, 1:41 pm

I can only imagine that this was in lakewood. The agencies I've worked with where I live would never have referred someone unlicensed. But I have heard about numerous popular evaluators in lakewood who are considered the experts that everybody goes to yet they don't have certification.

amother

Babyblue

Thu, Jan 12 2017, 1:55 pm

Also, in defense of the agency, it may have been a chessed organization that he's people for free? It certainly wasn't any of the agencies thato provide therapy since they would refer in house....probably the OP didn't do enough research. Most licensed people charge way over $100 for an evaluation. . .

amother

Honeydew

Thu, Jan 12 2017, 2:03 pm

Yes, I didn't do enough research. I'm the type who usually researches every last detail and Bh this child is perfectly healthy and doing well so I thought I could trust whoever they send me to. It never occurred to me that they would send me to someone who isn't licensed. But yes, I learned my lesson.

I'm still having a hard time getting over it, though, what a waste of time and money! I still have to take my daughter for another evaluation though, because the school wants a formal eval, and this one won't even give me a written report.

debsey

Thu, Jan 12 2017, 3:44 pm

I'm shocked that a referral agency would refer you to someone unlicensed and not tell you that. (Notice I didn't say "surprised.") Sure, it's your responsibility to do your due diligence - caveat emptor - but the whole point of a referral agency is that they're supposed to be trustworthy. If you have the head for it and are so inclined, I'd recommend writing a letter to the head of the agency, because he/she might not know that the staff makes referrals like this. Completely out of their mandate.

A licensed person may or may not take insurance, but if they don't, and they provide you with a receipt, you can sometimes get reimbursed by insurance for a portion of the cost, or deduct that expense as an educational expense.

I find that usually the best place to get a referral from is the school - they know who they have consulted with in the past, and they can see the quality of the different "evaluators."

With regard to a free board of ed eval, that will give you some data, but not necessarily the data you'd need to make this decision. You do need someone who can make a specific recommendation about pushing ahead or not, and that's not really within the scope of a Board of Ed eval. Numbers are not enough to make a recommendation like this. You also need to know about her social skills, emotional maturity, etc.

amother

Honeydew

Thu, Jan 12 2017, 4:53 pm

So as many of you guessed, this is Lakewood. I don't want to post the name of the organization because they do so much good, I was just shocked by this story. I spoke to the Director of the organization this morning and made it very clear that I found this unacceptable.
Postscript, I discussed this with my daughter's wonderful Morah and she said she herself has a Masters degree in special education! She voluntarily did an informal evaluation of my daughter today during free play and she volunteered to write up a report and do a real eval if I need it. I intend to call the principal and ask if she'd like that or if I should do another evaluation. I sort of feel that as her teacher she's the best person to do the eval. Meanwhile, if anyone has recommendations of a good licensed evaluator in Lakewood, I'd appreciate it.

amother

Ginger

Fri, Jan 13 2017, 7:31 am

I had the same exact experience except I did ask questions and was told that this.is.what's.done. and you won't find anyone else yada yada yada. I was stressed and anxious since the deadlines for applying for schools and kindergartens are in late fall/early winter and the year barely started. So I went to one of these "very experienced" women. It was pathetic and when I told her to write a report in order for me to pay her boy did I get attitude! its crazy here!