New Article in Healthcare Business Today
Direct Support Professionals are the Backbone of Care for People with Disabilities
Published: January 30, 2025
By: Joseph M. Pancari, President & CEO of CP Unlimited
Read this article online >>
Direct Support Professionals (DSP) are the daily heroes who work tirelessly to help those with disabilities achieve fulfilling lives. In fact, DSPs are as dedicated to those they serve as they would be a close family member. This sentiment is true of many in the healthcare industry, though DSPs stand apart given the daily, personalized care provided to our most vulnerable.
In the disability field, a DSP can have many titles; at Constructive Partnerships Unlimited they take on roles including Habilitation Coordinator, Community Skills Specialist, and others. A diverse group of women and men, they are at once an advocate, a friend, a teacher, and a voice.
Their roles thread together with other committed caregivers to form a personalized array of services, appointments, therapies, and enriching activities. They seamlessly take on sometimes challenging tasks such as bathing, complex feedings, administering medication, and diapering, at all hours, with true devotion to those they support.
In our organization specifically, they also number more than 1,100 of our 2,500-person strong workforce. Indeed, they are our backbone and frontline of intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) care and support.
For this vital and compassionate work, they are annually compensated at a level at or below retail-wages. “Being a DSP is pretty much my life, this is what I am…but I cannot pay my rent with compliments,” said Yvette Gonzalez, 62, who has worked with us since 2003 and spent her life in the disability field. “People cannot fathom what it takes; it can be very physical. This is not an easy job.”
