Ohio Alliance of Direct Support Professionals

Background

In early 1999, a group of public and private provider agencies and county boards, ODDevelopmental Disabilities and advocacy organizations created the Workforce Development Collaborative (please note that the name has since been changed to the Ohio Alliance for Direct Support Professionals, or OADSP). The conditions for direct support professionals in 1999, as currently, included high turnover; limited education, training and career opportunities; and poor wages and benefits, all of which led to a low social and professional status. This made it very difficult to recruit and retain qualified and committed workers in direct support roles. The group\'s belief was that partnerships between consumers and direct support professionals were integral in developing and facilitating services which lead to fulfilling and meaningful lives. The Workforce Development Collaborative recognized that people needing supports are more likely to achieve their goals if they have well-trained, experienced and motivated people working at their side.

Mission & Vision

    The mission of the Ohio Alliance for Direct Support Professionals is to promote the development of a highly competent human services workforce, which provides high quality services and supports individuals in achieving their life goals.

    The collaborative was formed to achieve the following objectives:

1. To enhance the image, status, and value of the direct support professional as a career option.
2. To increase funding to allow the development of wages and benefits which provide direct support professionals with an income to support themselves and a family and which is commensurate with comparable positions in the Developmental Disabilities field.
3. To develop voluntary credentialing standards for staff and increase the opportunities for staff training.
4. To create and improve data relevant to workforce issues.
5. To develop partnerships with consumers, advocates and other interested in the quality delivery of services.
6. To identify possible affiliations and collaboration with national and state efforts in workforce development.
7. To develop and implement successful staff recruitment and retention strategies for employers.

    Outcomes that are expected to be achieved:

1. Consistent core competencies for the implementation of staff training and voluntary credentialing are developed.
2. Data relevant to workforce issues is regularly collected and utilized.
3. Competitive wages and benefits are developed to attract and keep competent staff.
4. Programs are established to promote and market the value and status of the direct service professional.

The OADSP Today

    The Ohio Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (OADSP) membership consists of over twenty organizations, including the following: provider agencies; county boards; ODDevelopmental Disabilities; Ohio Legal Rights Services; and the Nisonger Center, a University Affiliated Program (UAP) at The Ohio State University.

    Since its creation, the OADSP has created dialogue with key decision makers around the State of Ohio to raise awareness about the issues and problems of recruitment and retention of direct support professionals. Currently Robert Archer, Executive Director of the Association for the Developmentally Disabled, and David Pfriem, Executive Director of the Center for Mental Retardation, an ARC affiliate, serve as Co-Chairs of the OADSP.

    The group was influential in bringing Amy Hewitt of the University of Minnesota and the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals to speak in Ohio about workforce issues at OPRA's conference in the spring of 2000. Because of prior relationships developed with the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals, the Workforce Development Collaborative made a decision to develop a linkage and create an Ohio chapter (resulting in the name change from the Workforce Development Collaborative to the OADSP). Tony Thomas, Executive Director of Welcome House serves as Ohio's liaison to the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals. Furthermore, in the fall of 2000, the group solicited input on the National Alliance's Code of Ethics at OPRA's fall conference.

    In December 2000, the OADSP was awarded a grant by the Ohio DD Council to begin work on creating a volunteer credentialing program for direct support professionals in order to improve the turnover and vacancy situation among those positions. This grant will be the OADSP's primary focus for the next three years.