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Final ReportKansans Mobilizing for Direct Support Workforce Change: A statewide workforce development initiative to resolve the direct support workforce crisisAssuring the adequate recruitment, retention, and competence of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) is widely reported as a significant barrier to the growth, sustainability, and quality of community services for people with disabilities in Kansas and across the United States. The creation of acceptable DSP wage and benefit packages continues to be an ongoing challenge and is critically important. However, it is also essential to ac knowledge other aspects of the direct support workforce crisis in Kansas. The difficulties of developing a sufficient and well-prepared workforce are complex and multifaceted. The need to develop effective responses to these difficulties is immediate. Few opportunities for preservice training exists and many DSP's are ill-prepared for the diverse skill sets they need to effectively do their jobs in supporting the state’s most vulnerable citizens. In October 2002, the Kansas Council on Developmental Disabilities (KCDD) brought together a group of stakeholders within Kansas to create statewide systemic change in direct support workforce development. Committed to this initiative, the KCDD awarded a grant of $600,000 managed cooperatively by the Research and Training Center on Community Living at the University of Minnesota, Kansas University Center on Development Disabilities (KUCDD), and Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) from Cambridge, Massachusetts. This advisory committee included stakeholder representatives from the following groups: Community Developmental Disability Organizations (CDDOs), community service providers, self-advocates, direct support professionals, front line supervisors, families, Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS), InterHab, The Alliance, KUCDD, Department of Education, Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), Workforce/Labor and others. Together, project partners worked over two years to reduce turnover and vacancy rates within participating organizations and family employers. In addition to improving workforce issues within specific organizations and families, the Advisory Committee worked to address the workforce challenges facing providers and individuals receiving support throughout Kansas. This final report provides information on project participant’s accomplishments, improvements in quality services for individuals in Kansas receiving supportive services, and strategies and tools that can continue to be built upon to improve the workforce situation throughout Kansas. The Development of Skills and ProductsThroughout the course of this project, frontline supervisors and managers worked diligently to acquire additional skills that allowed them to provide competency based training to direct support workers and make system changes within their organizations thus improving the quality of supports individuals with disabilities received. 211 people received training on DSP workforce issues during the project. In that time, 24 persons completed additional training to become trainers themselves, thus increasing the capacity within Kansas to continue the effort to address workforce challenges within Kansas. Those people trained 381 additional people. In addition to developing professional skills during the project, a number of products were also developed. These products include:
Improved Services for Individuals with DisabilitiesAs we know, the quality of life for an individual with a disability is greatly impacted when they experience seemingly constant turnover in their direct support staff. Through this project, and its successes in turnover reduction, the quality of life for Kansans with disabilities has improved. At the start of the project, 40 % of agency participants reported that they limited provision of services to new individuals with disabilities due to their workforce crisis. Only 15.4% reported their workforce challenges forced them to limit new services in the final year of the project. Workforce InitiativesOver the past two years, project participants created a number of workforce initiatives to continue the efforts of Kansans Mobilizing For Change (KMFC). The initiative that these professionals demonstrated has been remarkable!
A Reduction in Staff TurnoverOverall in the twelve organizations that completed the interventions, there was a 15% reduction in DSP turn over from their baseline assessments in 2002 through project completion (2004). Even more exciting, turnover for frontline supervisors (FLS) declined 29% from the baseline level. These findings suggest that the greatest impact of the project’s technical assistance and training models in the first two years of implementation is on supervisors, but that a healthy decline in DSP turnover could also be detected by the end of the second year. Vacancy rates for FLSs declined from 3.1% in 2002 to 2.4% in 2004. Vacancy rates for DSPs remained steady, increasing slightly from 6.3% in 2002 to 7.7% in 2004. Finally, the 12 organizations experienced a decline from 47.6% to 41.7% in the proportion of leavers who stayed with the organization less than 6 months before leaving. Continued Efforts and ChallengesDespite the exciting success of this two year project, additional work must be done to address the direct support workforce challenges that face Kansans. Wage and Benefits remain too low and additional funding is required to make significant and lasting improvements. Competency based training programs must be funded so they can be utilized routinely in agencies to provide high quality supports to individuals while promoting accountability of staff. DSP professionalization requires continued effort. Through credentialing and apprenticeship opportunities, the direct support workforce in Kansas can continue to evolve into a highly skilled and recognized group of professionals.
It is up to you …TAKE ACTION and join us in changing Kansas’ direct support workforce for the better!If you are interested in learning more about how the participating agencies created change in their organizations, contact them for additional information. Project participants are eager to share their experiences, the struggles and the successes, with other employers in order to continue making improvements in the direct support workforce across Kansas. Training Frontline Supervisor
Mosaic, Inc. Hartford, Incorporated
KETCH
Lakemary Center, Incorporated
Credentialing and ApprenticeshipDSNWK
Individual Support Systems
Recruitment and MarketingArrowhead West, Incorporated
Johnson County Developmental
Supports
College of Direct Support (CDS)CLASS LTD
Sunflower Home Health, Incorporated
Technical Assistance
Creative Community Living
Sunflower Supports Company
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Questions/Feedback about this web site? E-mail Kathy Olson, State Administrator, or call her at 620-421-6550 ext. 1771 This project is supported with grant funds from the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services and the University of Kansas. The University of Kansas is an equal opportunity educator and employer. |
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