Nation faces crisis in direct support workforce shortage.

The critical need for direct support professionals supporting persons with developmental disabilities received attention from the highest levels in the federal government last year. U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said, "Direct support workers...are critical to the success of the New Freedom Initiative." Congress passed a resolution late last year recognizing that the workforce shortage was the most serious impediment to implementing the U.S. Supreme Court Olmstead ruling. Yet, there is a growing national crisis in securing an adequate supply of qualified direct support professionals.

Click here to read a special report, Shortage of Direct Support Professionals: A Growing Crisis

What are service providers and organizations across the country doing to boost direct support retention?

In November 2002, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the Practice Profile Database, a web portal that spotlights innovative practices in recruitment, training, and retention of direct support workers across the country. The database currently features 40 programs, including at least three on organizations that cater to persons with developmental disabilities. These include Hope Haven, Inc., in Iowa, the Linking Employment, Abilities, and Potential (LEAP) program in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and OHI in Maine. To contribute profiles to this database, call toll free at 1(866) 402-4138 or email info@directcareclearinghouse.org

Visit the Practice Profile Database at http://www.directcareclearinghouse.org/practices/index.jsp