This guidebook addresses the critical issues affecting both the direct support workforce and providers supporting community living for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  

Written in an engaging style, each chapter features tips, DSP stories, provider profiles, and resources that illustrate how to implement change at an organization or systems level. Topics include using data, collaborating, recruiting and retaining staff, training competencies, credentialing, using technology, and supporting health and wellness for a sustainable workforce.

Edited by Amy Hewitt and Susan O'Nell, and with a foreword by Liz Weintraub and Charlie Lakin, the work is composed of the following authored chapters:

Chapter 1. Critical Issues Affecting the Direct Support Workforce 
Sarah Anne Hall, Lynda Lahti Anderson, Heidi Eschenbacher, and Amy Hewitt

Chapter 2. The Value of Data in Workforce Development 
Mary Lou Bourne, Valerie Bradley, Dorothy Hiersteiner, and Laura Vegas

Chapter 3. Unlocking Solutions Through Collaboration
Ann Hardiman, Regis Obijiski, Julie Bershadsky, Amy Hewitt, Joe Macbeth, and Gabrielle Sedor

Chapter 4. Workforce Solutions at the Local Level: A Guide for Employers 
Kristine Foss, Barbara Kleist, and Sandra Pettingell

Chapter 5. Elevating the Status of the Direct Support Professionals
Bethany Toledo, Mark Davis, Kirsten Sanchirico, Dianne W. Henk, and Regis Obijiski

Chapter 6. Attracting and Recruiting the Best DSPs
Jerry Smith, Amy Hewitt, Laurie “Chet” Tschetter, Claire Benway and Julie Kramme

Chapter 7. Hiring for Success: Selecting and Retaining DSPs
Jerry Smith and Amy Hewitt

Chapter 8. Competencies as a Framework for Workforce Excellence
Carol Britton Laws, Colleen McLaughlin, and Susan O’Nell

Chapter 9. Credentialing as a Path to Workforce Stability
Sheila Fesko, Kelly Nye-Lengerman, Dan Hermreck, and John Raffaele

Chapter 10. Building Workforce Resilience Through High-Impact Training 
Megan Sanders, Susan O’Nell, and Diane Potts

Chapter 11. Leveraging Technology for Workforce Success
Renáta Tichá, Brian Abery, Adele Dimian, John Good Smith, Seunghee Lee, James Houseworth, Betul Cakir Dilek, and Mackenzie Farrington

Chapter 12. Enhancing Equity and Inclusion Through Cultural and Linguistic Competence
John Good Smith, Tawara Goode, Susan O’Nell, and Amy Hewitt

Chapter 13. Supporting Health and Wellness for a Sustainable Workforce
Lynda Lahti Anderson, Jennifer Hall-Lande, and Sandra Pettingell

Coming Soon

This book explains the concept of self-determination and explores the factors that support and create barriers to self-determination for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This book includes pieces written by people with disabilities and resources to help readers become allies and build supports for self-determination in the community.

Coming Soon

This book provides a concise review of what we know in nine key areas in health care and health outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and how that information could inform future developments in public policy, research, and practice. Intended for policymakers, researchers, practitioners, and students.

Coming Soon

Promoting Optimal Health and Wellness is designed to provide useful information about some of the most common health conditions that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities experience, including prevalence, known causes, and evidence-based interventions. Intended for professionals, caregivers, and families, this book presents the most current understanding of conditions across the lifespan. 

Coming Soon

Intended for researchers, this book provides tools and practical strategies to develop inclusive research partnerships with adults with intellectual disability developmental disabilities. This book includes pieces written by co-researchers with lived experience with disabilities and addresses topics including team development, study design, data collection and analysis, ethics, authorship, and working with an Institutional Review Board.