Case Study: California Virtual Academies (CAVA) achieves expanded access to speech therapy, improved outcomes, and lower costs with PresenceLearning

Chronic SLP Shortage Alleviated with Improved Outcomes and Lowered Costs

California Virtual Academies (CAVA) is a statewide online charter school network serving about 13,000 K–12 students. Delivering legally mandated speech therapy was a persistent challenge—many students live in areas with few or no local speech-language pathologists, transportation was a barrier, and recruiting in-person therapists was time-consuming and costly for provider coordinator Angie Guterres.

CAVA implemented PresenceLearning’s live online speech therapy in 2010, with easy setup (webcams/headsets and tech support) and strong buy-in from staff, parents and students. The telepractice approach opened access for students who previously had no services, improved outcomes (including making up for missed therapy), saved tens of thousands of dollars in the first year (approximately $500 per student annually estimated), and reduced administrative time—growing from 110 students in year one to an expected 250–300 the following year.