Saving the Direct Support Professional: The Heartbeat of The I/DD Community

The DSP workforce shortage has been an on-going issue for decades, but it has now become a crisis. People who rely on DSPs for care and community connection are left with few caregiving options. Between poverty-level wages, insufficient benefits, inadequate training, and a lack of advancement opportunities, recruiting and retaining DSPs is a growing challenge. The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is driven by its Five Year Strategic Plan goals to improve services and supports for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD). The Council, charged with creating systems change for individuals with developmental disabilities and family members, will work through various advocacy and capacity building activities to build a more interdependent, self-sufficient, and integrated and included disability community across Georgia.This project was supported, in part by grant number 2001GASCDD-03, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.