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VTDigger is well positioned to work with Vermont Care Partners to promote the much needed services of its sixteen respective member agencies which, includes NCSS. They also understand how important it is for our elected officials to know how to support the needs of vulnerable Vermonters.
This thirteen week series is a collaboration produced by members of the Vermont Care Partners statewide network of sixteen non-profit, community-based agencies providing mental health, substance use and intellectual and developmental disability support. Below is the fourth installment of the series from Green Mountain Support Services that focuses on Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) that assist people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities in realizing their full potential and becoming valued and participating members of their communities.
Wearing the Hat of Many Professions
Direct Support Professionals offer support to those with unique needs and preferences
Excerpts from article
WHO ARE DIRECT SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS? Direct support professionals (DSPs) assist people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities in realizing their full potential and becoming valued and participating members of their communities. Their work is complex and goes well beyond caregiving, requiring skills including independent problem solving, decision making, behavioral assessment and prevention, medication administration, health and allied health treatment, teaching new skills, crisis prevention and intervention and more.
The job duties of a DSP may resemble those of teachers, nurses, social workers, counselors, physical or occupational therapists, dieticians, chauffeurs, personal trainers, and others. Their work requires strong communication skills and the ability to build relationships with the people they support and their families.
DSPs may work in family or individual homes, intermediate care facilities, residential group homes, community job sites, vocational and day programs, and other locations. Their work is determined by the unique needs and preferences of the individuals they support, and they are held to high ethical and professional standards.
DSPs work to break up the isolation and loneliness many people are experiencing even before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Read more…
Link to entire article: