So many choices, so many questions! Why should I choose Pacific Coast Speech Services?

• Our clinical fellows understand their main task during their fellowship is to transition from being heavily supervised in graduate school to becoming self-supervised, independent managers of diverse caseloads. They understand that effective, ongoing, hands-on supervision is essential to make this transition.
• We believe our Clinical Fellowship program is superior. How do we know this? Our CFs tell us, both in words and in longevity. We have supervisors who began as clinical fellows, and clinical fellows who are currently working as team leaders at their school sites. Our current and past CFs consistently volunteer to answer questions from potential employees, both on logistics and the quality of their supervision.

PCSS uses a multi-faceted mentorship approach

Local Supervisors – Our CF local supervisors are accountable for providing triple the ASHA standard supervision hours during the first month of fellowship and double the hours throughout the Clinical Fellowship Year.

• PCSS supervisors are chosen for their years of clinical excellence working with similar caseloads. They are available on a flexible basis within the school day and before/after school.
• PCSS supervisors review reports, attend initial IEPs, and provide guidance throughout the year when support is needed.
• PCSS supervisors do not carry their own full-time caseloads. This allows them dedicated time to provide quality supervision and flexible on-site support when needed.

PCSS Practicing SLP Administrators (Louise Valente & Annette Crotty) step in to assist our CFs regularly, providing support for district-level issues and second opinions on treatment options.

PCSS Consultant Clinicians for our CFs and clinicians. We have relationships with experts in subspecialty areas such as DHH, fluency, and international adoptions. Recently, one of our licensed clinicians completed a case study with our fluency expert. They reviewed reports, goals, and methods used with a high schooler with mild dysfluency who is extremely anxious about speaking in most contexts.

• We are especially careful in our placement of clinical fellows, selecting caseloads with manageable workloads, compliant IEPs, and helpful district partners.
• An excellent supervisor will assist you in developing strong partnerships with your school team, as well as provide tried and true resources from their years of clinical experience to smooth your path.
• With a manageable caseload, our CFs have the mental space to work through issues and develop targeted concerns to discuss with their supervisors.
• Our extensive supervision time allows your supervisor the time to observe, reflect, and meet with you to develop an evolving plan to build your clinical strengths and growth areas.
• Without the accountability of structured reflection and discussion, it is easy for supervision to become a low priority when caseloads are busy. Caseloads are always busy!

• A critical piece of learning to be independent is the ability to identify where you need to improve and efficiently locate appropriate resources.
• Pacific Coast Speech Services has carefully collected clinician resources for 30 years and developed a rigorous online library of tools for success. We don’t want our CFs to “reinvent the wheel.” When you need to send out a questionnaire to teachers regarding social skills, manage the steps of a transition IEP, or complete your first therapy schedule, we have samples at the ready.
• In addition to your site, supervisor, and online resources, we also provide a yearly budget allocation for resources to use with your specific caseload. You can purchase toys, books, manipulatives and more. These items are yours to collect and add to your personal treasure chest of therapy materials.

We recognize that the CF year involves lots of paperwork tracking! We used the collective wisdom of our seasoned CF supervisors to develop quick start checklists for the first trimester in a school site and beyond.

Not only do our CFs have access to this exclusive resource, but they are paid to review it! And so are their supervisors: everyone likes to learn from each other. We are invested in the CF year going as smoothly as possible and prepare you with an arsenal of information at the ready.

What does it cover?

• Startup tips to ensure success in your first week
• Specific checklists for the steps to complete a wide variety of paperwork tasks such as transition/Initial/Discharge IEPs
• Resources to use to set your therapy schedule
• Parent handouts and resources
• Therapy tracking forms
• Sample goals
• Report templates
• Guides for the ASHA CFY process and the state RPE licensing process

At Pacific Coast Speech Services, we are excited about being speech-language pathologists! One of the most common comments from our school administrators is that our SLPs/SLPAs bring empathetic and positive attitudes to the site.

This positivity comes from knowing that our team members demonstrate daily values of evidence-based practice and engage in the encouragement of our parents/students.

As administrators, we fully appreciate the talents of every staff member, and look for opportunities to build their skills and encourage their enthusiasm. Pacific Coast Speech Services cultivates this culture within our practice every day.

Here’s a comment from a recent meeting:

“I heard you tell our new clinical fellow that she could sit anywhere at our staff meeting, and whomever she sat with would be warm, enthusiastic, and full of suggestions. I love working with PCSS because I knew that was true.”

Our practice centers on providing evidence-based therapy; emphasizing the service of students with kindness and attention paid to individual needs. All factors affecting educational progress are considered and honored. We start with the idea that every student deserves to be seen as a whole person with unique strengths and challenges. We seek speech pathologists who engender this attitude. When building our team, we look for a diverse range of clinician experiences to best support student needs.

Pacific Coast Speech is committed to fostering a diverse workforce, and maintaining a workplace that is equitable, inclusive and safe for all employees. From recruiting practices, to pay and benefits, and all other aspects of employment, an environment of equity is of the utmost importance. We recognize that our employees comprise a wide range of backgrounds and characteristics, and believe those differences should be celebrated and valued. Individual employees contribute their experience as humans, and ultimately to the knowledge and expertise that make our employees valuable assets of the company.