New York State
Occupational Therapy Association

After the historic passing of the Occupational Therapy Practice Act Amendments Bill in June of 2011, which regulates supervision of OTAs, the State Board for Occupational Therapy [SBOT] was charged with developing regulations to govern OT practice in NY based on these legislative changes.   NYSOTA was invited by the SBOT to participate in the development of the new regulations. Our goal in this endeavor is to guide the SBOT in the development of regulations that will protect not only the consumer, but also OT practitioners.

NYSOTA supports the proposed regulations, which represent nearly 10 years of work by the state board and NYSOTA. Currently, the proposed regulations are just that, proposed; and as such, have not been released to the general public for review.  We have been fortunate to have permission to share highlights of the work, and have had success with several recommendations made since the original proposal shared with us in October.  Our recommendations, supported by the AOTA office for state affairs, included supervision guidelines that

meet the needs of occupational therapy assistants with varying levels of experience, as well as considering the realities facing supervisors. ¹

NYSOTA represents all members equally, striving to consider all sides of the question, all practice areas and all practitioner skill levels.  We look forward to hearing from you, our membership, as we work through this process.  We also hope that you will engage with the SBOT during the public comment period when the entire document will be available for review and the SBOT and the Board of Regents will be available to hear your feedback directly. ²

We encourage you, the members, to share this information with non-members. We encourage non-members to join and get involved. For additional information please visit the NYSOTA website.

Thank you for your interest and your ongoing support of NYSOTA.

Melissa Whelan, MS, OTR/L, IMC
President, New York State Occupational Therapy Association [NYSOTA]

 1  (based on the AOTA's "Guidelines for Supervision, Roles, and Responsibilities During the Delivery of Occupational Therapy Services.," and the "Model State Regulations for Supervision, Roles, and Responsibilities During the Delivery of Occupational Therapy Services.")

 2  It is NYSOTA's understanding that the state education department's Office of the Professions will be presenting the proposed regulations to the Board of Regents in February. The proposed regulations may then be posted in the State Register for public comment after the Board of Regents meeting

 Download this letter to share with colleagues, students and interested parties:

To learn about AOTA's recommended guidelines on supervision, read:

• Guidelines for Supervision, Roles, and Responsibilities During the Delivery of Occupational Therapy Services (edited 2009)

12/30/11