Become a Step Up Occupational Therapy Provider in Florida
At a Glance
Occupational therapy builds the everyday skills a child uses for learning, playing, and self-care. Families usually find it when a child needs help with fine motor skills, handwriting, or sensory processing. Those families can pay for occupational therapy with Unique Abilities (FES-UA) scholarship funds, but only when the therapist is approved in EMA, Step Up's online system. Approval also lists you in the provider directory families search inside EMA.
This page covers what approval involves for an occupational therapist: the one scholarship that pays for this work, the credential routes Step Up recognizes, how payment reaches you, and the mistakes that slow applications down. Step Up reviews every application and makes every approval decision.
What Families Can Pay You For
FES-UA covers occupational therapy as one of its specialized services. A family can pay you through Direct Pay in EMA, or pay you themselves and request reimbursement from their scholarship account.
The family-side rules matter for your caseload. A child needs a qualifying diagnosis or an IEP, and FES-UA cannot be used while a child is enrolled full time in a public school: public school students receive occupational therapy through their school district at no cost to families. Scholarship-funded OT comes from families outside full-time public school enrollment.
The service also has to appear in your approved EMA service catalog for a family to pay for it. Your catalog listing is what a family selects when they pay, and Step Up confirms coverage for each child's program.
Online and telehealth delivery is eligible in this category, and services may be delivered outside Florida if you are credentialed.
What It Takes
Step Up recognizes three credential routes for specialized services:
- A Florida Department of Health license for your specific service, with a clear, easy-to-read license number, or
- Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) provider approval, or
- Specialized Instructional Services (SIS) Provider approval from the Office of Early Learning.
You charge only within your approved specialty area. An occupational therapist bills for occupational therapy, not for a different discipline's services.
Occupational therapy assistants and interns work under a fully credentialed supervising therapist. They cannot create Business accounts; they link as Personal account holders under the supervising therapist, and the Business account must be approved before a Personal account can link to it. Occupational therapists who work through a school apply with the School and Personal account combination instead of Business and Personal.
Mistakes That Slow Occupational Therapy Applications Down
- An unclear license number on the upload. Step Up explicitly flags license numbers that are hard to read.
- An expired license, or one with restrictions or disciplinary action.
- Billing outside your approved specialty area.
- Framing a non-covered service as therapy. Massage therapy, acupuncture, and chiropractic are not covered by FES-UA.
Questions Providers Ask
Which scholarship pays for occupational therapy?
Unique Abilities (FES-UA). It is the only Step Up scholarship with a therapy category; occupational therapy is one of its specialized services.
What credential does Step Up want to see?
Most often, a Florida Department of Health license for occupational therapy, with the license number clear and easy to read. Agency for Persons with Disabilities provider approval and Specialized Instructional Services Provider approval are the other recognized routes.
Can I deliver occupational therapy online?
Yes. Telehealth delivery is eligible in this category, and services may be delivered outside Florida if you are credentialed.
How do families pay me?
Through Direct Pay in EMA, where Step Up pays you directly, or by paying you and requesting reimbursement from their FES-UA account.
I supervise an OTA. How does that work in EMA?
Therapy assistants work under a fully credentialed supervising therapist. An assistant cannot create a Business account; the assistant links as a Personal account holder under your approved Business account.
What does the application ask for, at a headline level?
Two halves. The Business account asks for your tax ID information, your legal name, and your bank account details so Step Up can pay you. The Personal account asks for a copy of your Florida license, with the license number clear and easy to read. Therapists who work through a school use the School and Personal account combination instead.
See Your Occupational Therapy Pathway
The free assessment asks five straightforward questions and shows you a personalized preview of your provider pathway: your credential route, the scholarship programs that fit, and your first steps. The assessment is free. Start with a free personalized assessment. Full personalized plan for one provider pathway: $147 one-time. Additional pathways are $97 each.
Step Up Provider Guide is operated by Pair of Deuces LLC and is not affiliated with Step Up For Students. Step Up reviews every provider application and makes all approval decisions.
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