Northcentral University

FA L L 2 0 2 0 – I S S U E 6 2 3 Best Practices Suggestions Connections Between Off-Site Supervisors and Agency Representatives Due to state regulations, it is not uncommon for our students to need a supervisor who is external to the place they are acquiring hours. NCU identifies these entities as 'Off-Site Supervisors.' In these arrangements, the student typically has someone on-site who mentors them around site-specific documentation, policies, and procedures. Up until this point, we have encouraged students, their off-site supervisor, and their on-site representative to identify a communication mode or schedule that works for them. As we revise the courses, we will have the students include the site representative in all structured communication assignments. In addition to this strategy, we have identified three best practices actions for those supervisors who are identified as 'Off-Site.' 1. Keep the contact information for the site representative handy. You will receive an email from the Director of MFT Clinical Training prior to the start of the intern's clinical experience. This email will include the contact information for the site representative and the NCU faculty. 2. Establish a plan for hours verification immediately. This may be a weekly email from the student that includes you and the site representative and indicates how many and what type of hours the student has earned that week, OR there may be a more formal document that is developed. 3. Include the site representative in the evaluation process. Since site representatives are not entered into our clinical tracking system, they are unable to complete evaluations. Students can provide PDF copies of the evaluation to their site representative to complete and can submit that evaluation to you to take into consideration when completing the evaluation in each clinical course. Collaboration is key when working in a system with several parts. Please let us know how we can facilitate effective communication between you and your supervisee's site! Telehealth Telehealth has become the norm in the times of COVID-19. In our last issue, we provided information on our response to this crisis based on policies established by our accrediting body, the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE). The following were done: 1. Students can engage in teletherapy and telesupervision to acquire their graduation hours, 2. The hours requirements were reduced for those students in states that allowed it, 3. Extensions were provided for those who saw a reduction in clients or had to take breaks from seeing clients, and 4. We broadened our definition of raw data. We are still offering these accommodations and will continue to work with COAMFTE to determine any additional ones that would benefit students, while still providing the experience needed to be a successful MFT. We have been asked to monitor these accommodations for students and have chosen to do so with a student-completed JotForm. At the time this newsletter is being prepared, a total of 214 JotForms have been processed. This JotForm is required in order for students to be able to count any telehealth hours towards their graduation requirements. The Clinical Administrative Team includes local supervisors on their response emails so that everyone has the message for their records. The Clinical Administrative Team will continue to reach out to check in on what accommodation is needed for your intern based on the date entered on the form. We appreciate your timely responses to those emails. As always, any questions can be sent to clinical@ncu.edu. Here is a link to a resource on telehealth that we have provided to students: https://amftrb.org/wp-content/ uploads/2017/05/Proposed-Teletherapy-Guidelines-DRAFT- as-of-09.12.16.pdf

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