The direct support workforce is crucial in providing daily supports to people with intellectual, developmental, and other disabilities in the U.S. as they live and participate in their communities. While demand for these supports has never been higher and will continue to grow, significant challenges exist in finding, keeping, and training Direct Support Professionals.

The new Impact: Feature Issue on the Direct Support Workforce and People with Intellectual, Developmental, and Other Disabilities examines the workforce challenges in our long-term care system and their consequences. It presents data on the direct support workforce; shares personal stories of what is and isn’t working for those delivering and receiving supports; looks at creative, bold actions being taken around the country to address workforce issues; and explores ways to ensure that quality supports are there for people with disabilities and their families in all our communities.

Impact is published by the Institute on Community Integration, and the Research and Training Center on Community Living, at the University of Minnesota. This issue is available online, and also in print from icipub@umn.eduor 612-624-6347.

Chapter shoutout: The Arc of Ulster-Greene, in Kingston, NY, contributed two photos for the issue! See them in the article “Proof of Professionalism: NADSP Certification Programs“. 

July 16-20, 2018 is National Disability Voter Registration Week (NDVRW)! The REV UP Campaign, organized by the American Association of People with Disabilities, coordinates NDVRW each year to get people with disabilities registered to vote, educated about the upcoming election, and ready to cast their ballots. REV UP stands for Register! Educate! Vote! Use Your Power! The campaign aims to increase the engagement of the disability community around voting. Across the country, many chapters of The Arc are coordinating events in their communities for NDVRW in partnership with REV UP.

NDVRW is especially important this year because 2018 is big election year, with elections on the federal, state and local levels. People with disabilities have powerful potential to make their perspectives heard by voting. According to a research report from Rutgers University, there were 35.4 million eligible voters with disabilities in 2016. When we include family members of people with disabilities, the disability community makes up 25% of the total electorate. Yet, people with disabilities often face barriers to voting which often leads to the registering and voting in lower numbers than people without disabilities. Let’s change that!

Ready to celebrate NDVRW and make your voice heard? Here’s how you can get involved:

• Register to Vote – Make sure you are registered to vote and your registration is up to date.
• Register your Friends – Spread the word! Make sure your family and friends are registered to vote, too.
• Find Out More – Registering is just the first step! To learn more about state laws, where to vote, specific elections, and more, visit The Arc’s Know Your Right to Vote webpage and Self Advocates Becoming Empowered GoVoter site.

As services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities become more individualized and self-directed, provider agencies are making the switch to more community-based, person-centered supports. While many providers have successfully transitioned to self-directed services, many others still face internal and system-wide barriers limiting their capacity to change.

The Spark! Initiative, an Optum supported initiative, is conducting a nationwide survey of professionals who work with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to better understand how to support service agencies that are navigating the shift to self-directed services.

If you work for an agency that directly provides services and supports to people with IDD: please follow the link below to fill out the survey. Please also forward this email to others in your organization who may be interested in responding. Optum would like to hear the perspectives of all provider agency employees.

If you do not work for an agency that directly provides services and supports to people with IDD: please consider forwarding this link to providers who may be interested in responding.

Please click on the Link below for more information and to participate in the survey!

Survey Link: Self Directed Services and Supports

This survey will take about 30 minutes to complete. After completing the survey, you can enter in a drawing to receive free registration to attend a national conference for service providers. Any personally identifying information that is asked in this survey or used to contact you (such as email and agency name) will be kept confidential. The information being collected in this survey will not be used to evaluate the performance of your agency. Your individual responses will remain private while adding to the overall understanding of supports and barriers that agencies face.

This research is funded by Optum, developed by the research team at the National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities, and directed by the Spark! Initiative. The Spark! Initiative is comprised of representatives of more than 25 organizations focused on developing a variety of resources for the general public to support and empower adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to live a self-directed life. Optum developed the Spark! Initiative to bring together leaders in government, nonprofits, and private sectors to discuss solutions to better support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

Any questions, comments or concerns? Please email NationalProviderSurvey@udel.edu.

July 16-20, 2018 is National Disability Voter Registration Week (NDVRW), organized by AAPD through the REV UP Campaign. The purpose of the week is to get people with disabilities and their families and friends, registered to vote, and educated about the upcoming election. Across the country, many chapters of The Arc in partnership with REV UP are coordinating events in their communities for NDVRW.

Check out the sample social media posts and graphics below from REV UP to help spread the word online:

Sample Posts:

It’s National Disability Voter Registration Week 2018 – get registered! vote.gov #REVUP

[Your chapter’s name] is participating in National Disability Voter Registration Week this week! Visit [link to your website with event information] to learn more about our upcoming voter registration events! #REVUP

Looking for information on voting? Check out SABE’s GoVoter project to learn more about voting as a person with a disability sabeusa.org/govoter

Sample Graphics:

NDVRW Week Graphic  – Facebook

NDVRW Week Graphics – Twitter   

Map Animation