The Kansas Alliance for Direct Support Professionals

The Kansas Chapter of the

National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals

Our Mission: Improving the quality of support for the people with disabilities in the state of Kansas by recognizing and strengthening the role of the Direct Support Professional (DSP).

The Kansas Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (KADSP) is the Kansas chapter of the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP). Be a charter member! Contact Kathy Olson for details.

What is the NADSP?

The NADSP is a coalition of organizations and individuals committed to strengthening the direct support workforce. The group has representatives from the fields of mental health, developmental disabilities, child welfare, education, and many others in the human services community.

The NADSP believes that service participants and direct support professionals are partners in the move toward a self-determined life, and the complementing and facilitating growth of natural supports. It recognizes that people needing support are more likely to fulfill their life dreams if they have well trained, experienced, and motivated people at their side in long-term, stable, compatible support relationships. It also recognizes that well-planned developmental strategies are needed to strengthen the workforce.

The National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals has developed a national agenda to address conditions chronicled over the past 25 years that are harmful to people who rely on human services. These conditions include:

High staff turnover
Low social status
Insufficient training
Limited educational and career opportunities
Poor wages

These conditions undermine the commitment of Direct Support Professionals, and have made it difficult to recruit and train qualified and committed individuals in direct support roles in every area of human services.

How much do you know about the job duties of a direct support professional?

Direct Support Professionals are required to fulfill many roles for the persons they support. These roles include:

Bookkeeper
Purchasing agent
Nursing tasks
Property manager
Safety inspector
Companion
Housekeeper
Chef
Diplomat in conflict resolution
Personal care attendant

Direct Support Professionals are the foundation upon which community services are built. Their work is carried out 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The developmental disability service system never closes.

Direct Support Professionals are accountable for health, safety, well-being and community inclusion of the people they serve. The potential outcome of failure to carry out their obligations could decrease the quality of life for people who receive their support, or even result in death. The cost of failure is incalculably higher than most other occupations that pay comparably.

Many of these Direct Support Professionals hold two, if not three, jobs in order to make ends meet. They love what they do for the persons served, but they cannot feed and house themselves, let alone their families, on current wages.

Facts to think about!

Setting Compared	Cost Comparison
Average annual amount spent per person on disability services in a Kansas state institution	$151,347
Average annual amount spent per person receiving HCBS services in the Kansas community	$37,277
National starting wage for Direct Support Professional working for a community disability provider	$8.53/hour
Pay for state hospital support worker in 2008	$11.52/hour
Current maximum state reimbursement for Direct Support Professional – community disability provider	$7.68/hour
Average pay for state hospital support worker	$12.06/hour
Average daily census in the Kansas State institutions (1972): 2,077
Average daily census in Kansas State institutions (2008): 359

You hold the key to change... What will you do with it?

If these are issues you care about, attend a meeting of the KADSP, become a charter member, be heard!

Contact Kathy Olson for more information!

Phone: 620.421.6550 extension 1771
Write her at: 2601 Gabriel, Parsons, KS 67357

Questions? Feedback about the web site? eMail the webmaster at kolson@ku.edu
Updated 4/15/10
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