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Should Part-time Staff Be Used for Program Leadership and Coordination in Community Recreation? POINT...
By Jane Hodgkinson You don't have to be Donald Trump to recognize that a 3-way return on an investment makes good sense. The use of part-time program leaders promises maximum benefit in the areas of cost, agency and employee options, and higher quality programs. Like it or not, it's a material world and . . .
Hiring Part-Time Staff Is a Years ago, many special recreation associations offered a small number of yearly programs that could be exclusively provided by full-time staff. Now, larger agencies offer hundreds of programs a year. With the growth, administrators had to decide how to staff those programs. Some agencies believed the best way to provide program leadership was through full-time people. Their programming staff doubled and tripled, with no seeming end in sight. A $20,000 a year position cost the agency closer to $40,000 when benefits and other costs were included. Expanded office space was needed, as well as, suppport clerical staff. Other agencies viewed the need for qualified leaders and recognized there were immensely talented people in their community who would be interested in
volunteering or working on a part-time basis. With proper recruitment, training, and supervision, these people could offer a wider spectrum of programs and cost a fraction of one full-time employee's salary.
Hiring Part-Time Staff Increases Our agency offers a diverse selection of programs for our clientele by utilizing part-time leaders. The video class is co-sponsored with our local cable TV station. The sign language classes are taught by a teacher of hearing-impaired students. The list of our part-time instructors include: certified gymnastic coaches; music therapists and teachers; owners of a martial arts program, a dance studio, and a pottery school; adaptive aquatics coaches, and artists, among others. In addition, we employ, as program coordinators, a number of people with recreation or related-field degrees who choose to work on a part-time basis only. The quality of their leadership is not a factor of the number of hours they work per week. Good leaders are good leaders, regardless of whether they work four or forty hours. In today's world, where many people want more time to spend with their families or to pursue other interests, we have a place for part-time employees. Our participants have a greater variety of leaders to choose from in their program selection.
...COUNTERPOINT
By Carolyn Nagle The delivery of quality leisure services is the goal of all community therapeutic recreation programs. How each agency determines which methods to use to achieve this goal is based upon the philosophies, mission and resources (most importantly, human resources) available to every service provider. The degree of success in quality leisure services depends upon the staff hired to deliver these services. To fulfill the goal of QUALITY leisure services delivery, it is essential to have full-time therapeutic recreation professionals in the leadership role of programs. The development of community-based recreation services for individuals with disabilities evolved primarily as a result of deinstitutionalization, the process of relocating individuals from institutions back into their communities for services. The passage of Public Law 94-142, which required free and appropriate education services to all youth, and the passage of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which required federally funded agencies to allow equal program access to all youth and adults with disabilities, were both instrumental in creating the need for community recreational services. While none of these
legislative actions directly place regulatory guidelines on community-based recreation providers, they do impact the participants involved in community programs and, therefore, the types of services provided. Community-based programs work with all disability groups; as a result, these programs involve many agencies. Some of these would include local special education districts, long term care facilities, stroke clubs, social workers, mental health associations, sheltered workshops and other similar groups. Each of these groups require different types of needs for their clients' recreational experiences. Some may need social activities, physical activities, or skill development; others need totally diversional programs. As a result, a full-time therapeutic recreation specialist, one who is trained to incorporate cognitive, physical, social and affective domains into program leadership, is the BEST person to provide these programs. While a part-time leader may possess the training, even hold a degree in therapeutic recreation, the full-time status of the position provides a stronger impetus in delivering quality recreation services. A full-time staff member is a part of an agency's team, a relationship which promotes camaraderie by sharing philosophies, agency goals and professional expectations. Full-time involvement in staff meetings, in-service train-
Point ...
Hiring Well-Trained Part-Time Staff The arguments most often used for not using part-time staff are lack of training or lack of ability to carry out agency policy. I view this rationale in a different light. Ten years ago, we had nearly 200 applications for a new direct leadership vacancy; however, last year we received closer to ten resumes for one vacancy. The agency's ability to hire top quality applicants is diminished by the fewer number of graduates choosing municipal therapeutic work. Consequently, we must seek qualified leaders elsewhere, and do all we can to ensure that they are well-trained, knowledgeable about our policies and familiar with our mission. To aid us, we have hired a Staff Enrichment Coordinator who is responsible to recruit, train, help supervise, evaluate, and reward outstanding volunteers and part-time staff. She helps our part-time staff understand their pivotal role in the success of the agency. We want our leaders and program coordinators to concentrate on the programs they are in, not the work waiting back at the office for them. Our full-time staff have to spread their creative energies
across numerous programs. Our part-time people concentrate on one or two programs a season. Our full-time staff manage the programs. Hiring part-time staff is a way to give your agency the most options for diverse program offerings for the least dollars. It also gives good quality leaders an opportunity to work when they choose and to contribute their skills to a variety of programs.
... Counterpoint ing, continuing education opportunities and agency planning meetings develop deep commitments to the organization and to the participants served. Part-time staff cannot develop or maintain this same sense of commitment as easily without the additional hours built into their schedules (a cost not included in part-time staff salaries). The full-time therapeutic recreation specialist provides continuity for program participants AND family members. It is extremely important to parents that their child knows their program leader and that the leader, in turn, knows the child. The full-time staff becomes very knowledgeable about each participant through program leadership experiences in which the participant was enrolled by participating in meetings with professionals discussing care plans, the Individualized Education Plan (IEP), habilitation plans or vocational plans, by reviewing past participation records, and through conversations with family members. Full-time staff promotes a good comfort level for parents when they are assured the staff is aware of all their child's special needs, whether such needs be medical, behavioral, emotional or physical. It is very difficult for parents to relate all their child's needs and abilities to a different staff person for each new program. The full-time leader, with this on-going knowledge, can in turn more immediately deliver an effective program to the participant. The opportunity to be involved with a variety of disability groups on an ongoing basis enhances the full-time leader's behavior management skills. Not only do they gain a variety of approaches to use, but they increase their effectiveness in dealing with participant behaviors which occur in the course of programs. Current integration trends require coordinating services between the therapeutic recreation agency and the parks and recreation program. This requires first-hand knowledge of the participants, as well as the support available from the agency. A full-time staff member would readily know this information. It would be narrow-minded to think that, in all cases, part-time staff are not as effective in program leadership. Part-time leaders can and DO bring excellent skills to the programs, participants, and can be very committed to the agency. Certain programs, like those requiring a great deal of skill, expertise and minimum disability awareness, lend themselves to part-time leadership. In summary, full-time leadership via the continuity, support, expertise, resources and commitment of a full-time agency team enhances an agency's ability to deliver a well-rounded and effective participant leisure system.
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