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ANCOR is still accepting nominations for its 5th Annual Direct Support Professional Recognition Award competition to honor direct-care workers who ensure that people with disabilities have the necessary supports to live life more independently.

The deadline to nominate a “star” direct support professional is April 1 at 5:00 pm EST. All nominations must be made online.

The contest rules and other information are available on the ANCOR website.

The Direct Support Professional Recognition Award competition is held in partnership with United Cerebral Palsy.

– by Deane Beebe

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has approved a Registered Apprenticeship program for direct support professionals (DSPs), updating the prior direct support specialist apprenticeship.

DSPs work in home and community-based settings.

The program was developed jointly by the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) and the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR).

Registered Apprenticeship programs teach American workers the skills they need to embark on a successful career.

Training DSPs

Like other Registered Apprenticeship programs, the newly approved program for DSPs (pdf) combines formal, competency-based instruction with on-the-job learning.

Additionally, the DSP program will promote opportunities for career advancement within the field of direct care. It will also encourage DSPs to help their clients maintain strong, active ties to their community.

“The program offers clear career steps for committed individuals who value this profession, while emphasizing their role in providing person-centered care that maximizes the ability of those they serve to live fully engaged and satisfying lives,” said Maureen Sheahan, PHI Midwest training & organizational development specialist.

“This is a great contribution to our work to develop high standards for training and recognition for workers serving all people who need long-term care supports and services,” Sheahan said.

Other Apprenticeship Programs

The Labor Department already offers Registered Apprenticeship programs for three other occupations related to direct care: certified nursing assistant, health support specialist, and home health aide.

PHI has compiled resources pertaining to those four programs on its Training & Organizational Development website.

Registered Apprenticeship programs debuted nationally in 1937.

– by Matthew Ozga

The U.S. Senate has proclaimed September 12-18 to be 2010 National Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week.

This is the third consecutive year that the Senate has unanimously approved a resolution to designate a specific week to honor direct support professionals. The resolution (pdf) was sponsored by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and had multiple co-sponsors.

A dozen states are also recognizing Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week this year.

Advocacy Planned

The American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR) and United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) are calling on direct support professionals, self-advocates, and family members to “Call on Congress” on September 14 to let them know about the need for better wages for community residential direct support professionals.

The groups are urging that members of Congress support the Direct Support Professional Fairness and Security Act (H.R. 868), which would amend Title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide funds to states to enable them to increase the wages paid to targeted direct support professionals in providing services to individuals with disabilities under the Medicaid program.

ANCOR is sponsoring a Governmental Activities Seminar and a “Direct Support Professionals to DC” event from September 12-14. The three-day event will culminate with visits to members of Congress on the final afternoon.

Providers are encouraged to bring their direct support professionals with them to Capitol Hill. Registration information is available online.

ANCOR has also provided 10 ideas (pdf) for events and other actions to celebrate Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week.

– by Deane Beebe

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ANCOR continues its advocacy work for direct support professionals (DSPs) with two announcements this month: It has selected the winners of its 2008 DSP TV Online video contest, and it has won the unanimous support of the U.S. Senate for its National Direct Support Professionals Week.

The six DSP TV Online winners — all both by and about DSPs and the people they work for – are now available for viewing on ANCOR’s website. (Above, see the winning video.) All six are full of heart. They convey the pride and joy dedicated DSPs take in their profession, the difference they make in the lives of the people they work with, and the mutual respect and affection that develop between workers and clients. They also contain calls for better pay and benefits, along with a lot of singing, dancing, and enthusiastic expressions of gratitude. ANCOR calls them “part of a greater effort to raise awareness of the workforce wage issue and give DSPs the ability to tell their stories in their own words, and as only they can.”

In addition, the U.S. Senate has recognized the week of September 8 as National Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week. (pdf) The unanimously approved resolution is timed to coincide with ANCOR’s annual Governmental Activities Seminar and its DSPs to DC event in Washington, D.C.

Elise Nakhnikian, Senior Online Editor
enakhnikian@phinational.org

Recommendations for Establishing a Credentialing System for Iowa’s Direct Care Workforce, (pdf) a recent publication from the Iowa Direct Care Worker Task Force, is a useful tool for advocates in any state who want to create “an accessible, comprehensible, flexible, quality system of education and training for all direct care workers.”

The report documents work to be done to implement recommendations published by the task force in December 2006.  Work began on the project last month.

Iowa’s proposed three-tiered credentialing system is intended to ensure that all direct-care workers are adequately prepared for the job. It also aims to make workers’ duties and qualifications clear to the consumers and family members who hire them, to acknowledge their special skills, and to correct the inequities of the current system, which requires training in some settings but not in others even when the same set of services is delivered in both.

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In response to a recent solicitation for comments from the federal government, PHI recommended changes to the three main categories used to track direct-care workers at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The government considers revisions to its Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) categories every ten years.

PHI also asked the government to address the exclusion of direct-care workers who are “independent providers” from federal/state employer surveys, which PHI believes results in a serious undercount of workers counted as Personal and Home Care Aides. Independent providers refer to direct-care workers who are either self-employed or who are directly employed by consumer households.  

Workforce data can play a critical role in assessing things like the effectiveness of state initiatives to attract and retain greater numbers of direct-care workers, or the impact of policies designed to improve direct-care worker wages.

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