VISHA asks committee to direct OPR to reopen Sunrise review on SLPA licensure

BURLINGTON — Members of the Vermont Speech-Language and Hearing Association (VISHA) urged the Government Operations & Military Affairs committee on Friday to ask the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) to conduct a new Sunrise review into licensure for speech-language pathology assistants (SLPAs).

"VISHA, as a board, our position is that we strongly support SLPA licensure, as a practical evidence based workforce solution," said Sierra Downs, VISHA president. Downs and colleagues told the committee that Vermont faces significant access issues for speech and language services, particularly in schools and rural areas, and that licensure would set clear standards for training, supervision and ethics.

Nicole Lord, an SLPA who works across four schools, described large caseloads and day-to-day duties such as maintaining augmentative and alternative communication devices and documentation. She said one first-grade student with articulation difficulties "should be seen 2 to 3 times a week rather than the 1 that we currently have no choice but to do," and described caseload pressures that limit individual therapy.

Mia Wilson, VISHA legislative chair, described the Sunrise process and said OPR completed a Sunrise report on SLPAs in 2014 that "recommended that SLPAs are to be regulated through licensure." VISHA said it supplied the committee with draft language asking OPR to perform a new Sunrise review focused on licensure — not mere registration — and to "take into account the prior 2014 Sunrise report on SLPAs and any prior stakeholder input" to avoid restarting from scratch.

Witnesses said many states already regulate or license SLPAs: "We have 19 states in the US that have definitive licensure processes," Downs said, and "30 plus states in the US have some kind of oversight or regulatory certification." They urged Vermont to adopt a licensure pathway similar to other allied health professions overseen by OPR.

Committee members asked practical questions about current hiring and supervision. Witnesses confirmed that, without licensure, school districts can place unregulated assistants into SLPA roles; they also noted that the University of Vermont offers training programs but retention and interstate portability remain issues. Witnesses and committee members discussed the pandemic's effects, including masking and reduced visual cues, which they said increased demand for services.

The committee did not take a vote. A member said the panel will "discuss this further as a committee and maybe take some more testimony on it" and urged OPR to come in to explain its current position. VISHA concluded its testimony and thanked the committee.

What happens next: VISHA asked the committee to add language directing OPR to conduct a Sunrise review that references the 2014 report; the committee indicated it may request OPR testimony and further hearings but made no formal decision during this session.