One of the best ways to market your practice and increase your caseload is to offer screenings at daycares and private preschools. So, how do you offer the screenings? Should parents pay for them, or should they be free? What is the best screening form to use? Here are my tips for the best way to offer screenings as an SLP.
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The Basics: Free vs Paid

I have found that free screenings bring in the best return on investment of your time. Busy parents (AKA all parents) love the convenience of a screening at their child’s daycare or preschool, but they do not want to worry about paying for it. You may only get a few parents who sign up if it is paid, whereas you will get many more if it is free

I know that some SLPs have been successful with charging a nominal fee ($10-$20 per screening), but I have not found that to be the case in my area.

If you are going to offer free screenings, though, make sure to streamline everything to make it worth your time as well. Here’s what I do when I offer screenings:

Setting Up the Screenings

First, I talk with the daycare/preschool director to confirm that I can offer free screenings, and if so, when the best days would be.

If you have never worked at the daycare or preschool before, introduce yourself and give your “elevator pitch” about what sets you apart and how you would like to offer their children free speech and language screenings.
If/when they allow it, ask them what would work best for them- for you to email them a permission form to print, or for you to drop off hard copies of the form. If you drop off hard copies, put at least one of them in an acrylic sign holder so it is easy to display. These are the sign holders I use (Amazon link for your convenience):

Then, I create a flyer and postcard with a QR code that parents can scan in order to fill out the screening permission form. This flyer includes a date by which they need to fill out the form, so that I can schedule the screenings. To make this simple, Hannah Boeck from Cued Creative and I developed an all-in-one Screening Survival Kit for you:

I usually send out the forms to daycares 2 weeks in advance of when I will be screening, and set aside 2 weeks to complete the screenings per location (since there are always one or two kids who only attend every other Tuesday from 9-10 am or something).
For example, if I wanted to screen the week of October 25th, I would set out the Screening Permission flyer the week of October 4th, with a due date of October 15th (two weeks), to catch as many parents as possible.

The QR code links to a Screening Permission Google Form where the parent can enter the info I will need: child’s name, birth date, classroom, days they attend the daycare/preschool, and parent’s contact information and e-signature. The e-signature can be a box that they click or a line that they type- they just have to confirm that they are allowing you to screen their child.

The Screening Info Google Form data can instantly populate a Google Sheets document with the click of the Google Sheets green plus-sign at the top of the Google Form. This gives me a handy spreadsheet with the information I need, without having to hand-copy it from the permission forms.

I then print out the portions I need for the actual screens (leaving off the parent’s contact info), using the “Print Selection” option in Google Sheets. You can sort it by age or classroom; I usually sort by classroom so I can tell each teacher exactly who I need from their class at once, and they can prepare the other kids while I am working with the first ones.

Performing the Screenings

The day before the screenings, I email my screening list to the daycare director so they know who I plan to see and when.
I then prep my screening record forms. I prefer the PLS-5 Screener (NOT the test) and make sure I have enough record forms for each age. Note: it is ILLEGAL to copy the record forms instead of using new ones each time (yes, I know this is a play by the publisher to make more money, but don’t be that unethical SLP).
- In the past, I would write each child’s name & info on the record form ahead of time, but that didn’t work well when they had stopped attending that daycare, or had a birthday in the interim from when they signed up and needed an older form, or their parent put the wrong birth date…) Now, I just make sure I have at least the correct number of forms for each age, plus a few extra.
The day of the screenings, I print out my spreadsheet of info and gather all of my screening forms, and enough Screening Results forms for each child plus some extra, just in case. I like to put them in a pocket folder, with screening forms on one side and results forms on the other, but that’s personal preference.
After I perform the screenings, I fill out the Screening Results form while there.
- If the child passes the screening, I give the parent the results sheet only.
- If the child fails the screening, I include a copy of the PLS-5 screening record form as well. This is not necessary, but I do it because I include the information for our local free therapy agencies (ere in PA, we have services that see children all the way through age 5), along with the list of insurances I accept, for the suggested full evaluation. If the parents choose to go with another provider for a full evaluation, that provider will require a copy of a standardized screening form. Parents really appreciate this, because often, they cannot afford private services but want their child to get support- and now they will speak highly of you to other parents. Word of mouth is the best marketing!

That’s my screening process in a nutshell! If you want a one-stop, done-for-you, editable screening kit, check out the Screening Survival Kit!

Want more info about starting or growing your practice? My Private Practice Essentials course from Northern Speech Services is a one-stop guide to starting your private practice, including an entire section on Marketing.