www.collegeofdirectsupport.com
“The College of Direct Support: Training a 21st Century
Direct Support Workforce for NC’s MH/DD/SAS System”
Funded by the NC Council on Developmental Disabilities
to
The NC Providers Council
Catalyst for Change
NC Council on Developmental Disabilities
• 34-member body appointed by Governor (PL
106-402, DD Act)
• Federally funded to promote policy and
practice innovations in
Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (I/DD)
• Investments in systems change, advocacy,
and capacity building initiatives – many,
cross-disability
• FMI: www.nccdd.org
www.collegeofdirectsupport.com
Supporting a 21st Century
Direct Care Workforce
A project funded by the NCCDD
Mission Statement
The College of Direct Support is a learning
gateway for contemporary best practices for
direct support professionals. By
incorporating web-based learning, backed
by nationally recognized curricula, the CDS
is designed to help support a profession of
direct care.
Momentum: National Policy Direction
• 4.3 million Americans with I/DD
• Ensure that individuals of all ages
receive, throughout their lives,
supports/services they need to live with
dignity as fully included citizens
• Access to and quality of Direct Support
Professionals (DSPs) is key to realizing
goals of the Americans with Disabilities
Act

US HHS Report to Congress - 2006
Promoting a “Next Generation”
Workforce
• 2004-2014: NC Employment Security
Commission: DSPs among NC’s “top 10
fastest growing occupations”
• FMI: “Direct Support Professional Work
Group Report,” NCCDD in collaboration
with CMS National Resource Center on
Direct Support Workforce (2007)
Rising to the Challenge
• Retaining existing DSPs
• Meeting increase in demand across
increasingly diverse populations
 Addressing turnover
 Low wages and limited access to health
insurance
 Meeting the need for comprehensive, costeffective, competency-based training
NCCDD Workforce Goals
• Establishment of state-wide,
competency- and values-based,
portable training and certification
requirements for DSPs, supervisors
• State-level certification and career path
based on demonstration of these
competencies
• “Birth of a new profession”
Investing in Change: College of Direct
Support
• Competency- and values-based, portable,
nationally recognized curriculum
 40,000 learners
 300 agencies
 23 states
• Grantee: NC Providers Council
 $300,000 investment over 3 years
• Test Pilot – Tailored to NC’s Needs
North Carolina Providers Council
• Bob Hedrick, Executive Director
• The NC Providers Council is largest crossdisability mental health,
intellectual/developmental disability and
substance abuse service provider
association in North Carolina. Our 92
members support over 85,000 people who
receive mh/dd/sa services in every county
across North Carolina through over 30,000
employees of Providers Council members
What is the College of Direct Support(CDS)?
CDS is an online, self-paced training program
and learner management system designed for
direct support professionals and entry-level
managers. The curriculum effectively utilizes
multimedia and interactive instructional
activities and includes pre- and post-testing as
well as a mentor-based competency
component. The CDS provides agency
participants with a database to manage and
analyze participant data.
CDS Evaluation Participants
• 9 organizations
 Staggered entry
 As early as 7/07 and late as 9/09
• Total number of DSP learners – 2,526
CDS Pilot Statewideness
Preliminary CDS Evaluation Results
• Learner outcomes
 123,932 completed lessons/hours of
completed training
 +25.3% average change in pre/post test
score
 Highest test score change +50.3 (cultural
competence continuum); lowest test score
change +11.2 basics of grooming and
dressing)
CDS Preliminary Outcomes
DSP Training Courses
Completed
DSP Training Courses
Completed
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Civil Rights and Advocacy (138)
Community Inclusion (1,191)
Cultural Competence (1,238)
Direct Support Professionalism
(1,091)
Documentation (1,143)
Employment Supports (1,043)
Communication (106)
Functional Assessment (993)
Working with Families and
Support Networks (957)
Friendship (1,074)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Individual Rights and Choice
(1,110)
Intro to DD (1,209)
Intro to Medication Support
(1,030)
Maltreatment of Vulnerable Adults
and Children (1,082)
Person Centered Planning and
Thinking (1,017)
Personal Care (1,298)
Positive Behavior Support (1,088)
Safety at Home and Community
(1,034)
Supporting Healthy Lives (1,017)
Teaching People with DD (1,025)
CDS Preliminary Outcomes
• Supervisor Courses




Fueling High Performance (360)
Recruitment and Selection (361)
Training and Orientation (354)
Preparing for the Supervisors Job (2 brand new course)
“Empowerment! We strive for
empowerment for the people we serve and
now with the CDS we can give that same
Empowerment to our employees.”
•DSP CDS Learner
“College of Direct Supports offers so much more information and
so much more technical training that it far surpasses any type of
classroom experience you could have. Working at your own pace
and on your own schedule makes the learning experience very
personalized to you. I do think it is THE best training curriculum I
have ever seen for overall responsibilities of group home staff
and supporting people and over this last 25 years I’ve seen a lot.”
Cynthia VanCamp, Qualified Professional,
Independent Living
Preliminary CDS Evaluation Results
• Organizational Outcomes
 Decrease in DSP turnover
• Range from -5.5% to -19.4%
 Lower then average early leaver turnover
• Range is 2-19%
• Previous studies would indicate average of 68%
 Two of the larger programs have been able
to report increased retention of CDS
completers as compared to noncompleters (note – smaller organizations were unable to
report this data)
Preliminary CDS Evaluation Results
• Organizational outcomes (cont.)
 Reported improved ability to recruit and retain
• Employees feel values and like they have more
knowledge
• We provide a tool and resource to staff with the
CDS – it makes it so clear how to do things and
staff can go back to it as a reference
• WIN program was developed to help staff go to
college; CDS is a gateway to college and this
program
• CDS graduates now welcome and train new
DSPs through CDS kickoffs
CDS Changes Lives
• Staff who have never used a computer now
know how to
• Staff are going on to college programs
• DSPs have become more assertive and
involved in suggesting changes and taking
initiative to make things happen for people
they support
Year 3 Initiatives
• Technical Assistance funding to market results and
further attempt sustainability
• Materials at the state level for approval of state
mandated training curriculum.
• New Training Modules in Civil Rights Advocacy,
Communication and Autism
• Recognition on the National Level of the unique and
successful implementation of the CDS training