Creating Effective Career Pathways that Retain DSPs
Jessica Neely, MA, MAT
Director of Knowledge Management, SEEC, Silver Spring, MD
The shortage of skilled Direct Support Professionals (DSPS) is a systemic crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored how essential a versatile direct support workforce truly is. Seventeen years ago, Larson and Hewitt outlined DSP recruitment and retention
challenges, their dire impacts on people with IDD, and recommended career pathways as a promising solution.
In 2017, a consortium of five provider agencies formed the Maryland Direct Support Training Program (MDDSP) with SEEC as lead agency. The MDDSP created a competency-based training framework using a ladder and lattice approach. Progress along a ladder
of knowledge acquisition is enhanced by a lattice of specialization options including DSP Mentor, DSP Job Coach, and the opportunity earn a national credential such as Registered Behavior Technician, or Certified Employment Support Professional. To
date, the MDDSP has served DSPs at 10 provider agencies and successfully trained nearly 300 DSPs with a credentialed learner’s retention rate of 91%.