collaborative-relationships
Collaborative Relationships Between the Board and External Agencies for Provision of Services by Regulated Health Professionals, Regulated Social Services Professionals and Paraprofessionals
Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. 1 Peter 4:10
Parents/guardians, community organizations, and schools have a common goal to promote student well-being and academic achievement. Requests from legal guardians or other community members to provide services to students such as in-class or in-school private tutoring, lessons, observations, counselling, assessments, therapy and other interventions are considered a request for "third party" services. Provision of third party services within the school requires careful consideration of various factors: purpose of the support, equity, liability to the Board, privacy and confidentiality, qualifications and professional standards of third party staff, informed consent, supervision, impact on educator time, school space, active collective agreements, and duplication or fragmentation of service.
Collaborative relationships complement or enhance existing programs and services offered by the Board; they do not duplicate the services of Board staff. They are relationships of mutual respect in which participants share values, objectives, human resources, material and/or financial resources, programs, and/or roles and responsibilities in order to achieve desired learning outcomes for all students including students with diverse learning needs.
When considering collaborative relationships in the areas of health and social services, the Board's practice is informed by PPM 149, Protocol for Partnerships with External Agencies for Provision of Services by Regulated Health Professionals, Regulated Social Services Professionals and Paraprofessionals. The following Board employees are health or social services professionals, or paraprofessionals, and are included within PPM 149:
- Speech-language pathologists
- Psychologists & psychological associates
- Social workers
- Occupational therapists
- Other professionals or paraprofessionals who are deemed by the Board to be essential for the delivery of programs and services for students with diverse learning needs, including but not limited to child and youth workers, behaviour analysts, communicative disorders assistants, psychoeducational consultants
Some types of health and social services are ineligible for collaborative relationships, including but not limited to:
- Services/supports that duplicate the services of Board professionals (PPM 149)
- Services/supports that are governed by laws or interministerial agreements
- Parent-initiated requests for services/supports that are retained and/or paid for by parents or legal guardians
Collaborative relationships for the provision of health and social service supports are mutually defined by the Board and external agencies through the Board's process, as documented in 91¿´Æ¬ Collaborative Relationships Process.
The first step to a collaborative relationship is an expression of interest, in letter form, to the attention of the Superintendent of Special Education and Learning Services.
Further information about collaborative relationships may be requested from the office of the General Manager, Clinical Services and Special Education, or the Coordinators of Special Education.