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DSP

Message from ANCOR:

Happy Direct Support Professional Recognition Week 2024! This week is a great opportunity to showcase the amazing, selfless, and often unsung work of the incredible professionals who make up the heart of our field.

Today and all week long, there are opportunities to share gratitude for DSPs and elevate the DSP workforce.

Let’s spread our message of thanks to DSPs as widely as we possibly can!

  • All week long, use our DSP Recognition Week Social Media Toolkit to take action in support of DSPs, and access logos, sample social media messages and other resources.
    • Remember to use the hashtag #DSPRW2024 so ANCOR can amplify your message and the essential work DSPs do every day!
  • Check out these free DSP Week webinars hosted by our friends at NADSP.
  • Be on the lookout for more resources coming later this week, and stay tuned for the opening of the 2025 DSP of the Year nominations!

Thank you for leveraging this week to express your gratitude for the essential work DSPs do every day to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as they access their communities.

Thank you, DSPs! Our communities are made more inclusive because of you.
We couldn’t do what we do without you!

Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

The President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCPID) will be hosting its next meeting on Thursday, September 26, 2024, from 9:00 am – 4:00 p.m. ET, and Friday, September 27, 2024, from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm ET. Register for the meeting here.

The meeting is open to the public and will be hosted at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The meeting will take place in the Switzer Building Conference Room 1400, located at 330 C Street, SW, Washington, DC 20201. Members of the public can observe the meeting in person or virtually. To observe the meeting in person, seating will be available for the first 25 individuals to reserve seats due to space limitations. In order to observe the proceedings in person or virtually, you must register in advance.

The Committee will discuss the 2024 PCPID Report focused on home and community-based services (HCBS) as it relates to direct support professionals, employment, community living, and federal support programs. The Committee will also discuss emerging issues facing people with intellectual disabilities.

Comments and suggestions, especially from people with intellectual disabilities, are welcomed. If there are comments that you would like to inform the PCPID, please share them using ACL’s comment form. Comments received by Friday, September 13, 2024, will be shared with the PCPID at the meeting.

Penn State Health is sharing a survey for caregivers (e.g., parents, guardians, grandparents) or direct support professionals (e.g. para-professionals, registered behavior technicians, community support professionals) who have supported a person with autism and/or an intellectual disability with limited vocal speech in the past year. The survey will only take about 10 minutes to complete and will help them better understand your experience (and the person you supported) with different forms of communication. When you complete the survey, you can also choose to be entered into a monthly drawing for a $25 gift card!

Please view the flyer for information on participating.

Yesterday, August 12, RCPA submitted comments to the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on why direct support professionals (DSP) need their own Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code. Without one, the unique work that DSPs do will not be captured, and the historically low wages that DSPs make will remain the norm. An SOC will allow for the gathering of legitimate data around wages and for the professionalization of the DSP workforce.

In June, OMB published the Federal Register notice announcing review of the 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Manual for possible revision in 2028 and soliciting comments. This notice started the process of reviewing and possibly changing the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Manual for 2028. OMB is analyzing items such as how jobs are classified, the rules for coding them, the main groups of jobs, specific jobs such as public safety tele-communicators and care workers, and adding new types of jobs to the classification system.

We hope that these efforts produce an SOC that captures the essence of the multifaceted work that a DSP does on a daily basis. If you have any questions regarding the comments, contact Carol Ferenz.