What is Direct Support Professional Training?
If you love to help developmentally disabled people and want to pursue it as a career, you need to join a Direct Support Professional Training.
If you don’t know anything about Direct Support Professional Training, you don’t need to worry. This article covers everything about DSP training.
Direct Support Professional Training
The training is explicitly designed to help a person providing care to someone become Direct Support Professional. Recognizing the importance of providing quality services, DDS has established a mandated statewide competency-based training program for all those working in licensed community care facilities vendored by regional centers. This is out of the belief that individuals with developmental disabilities receiving residential services are entitled to high standards and those who provide them deserve recognition as qualified professionals.
How long does a DSP training take?
The Direct Support Professional (DSP) training is 70 hours of training which is designed to be completed over a two-year period. The training is divided into two equal parts of 35 hours each to be completed in successive years. However, a challenge test may be taken for each of the 35 hour segments. Those who pass the challenge test for either of the 35 hour training segments will not be required to take that classroom segment. Training and testing are based upon core competencies or skills necessary for satisfactory Direct Support Professionals' job performance.
A high school diploma is the minimum requirement for most employers. However, if you have an associate or bachelor’s degree in a related field such as social work then it could make you more attractive to potential employers.
Areas covered in a DSP Training
The Direct Support Professional Training course is based on core skills or abilities necessary to satisfy job expectations which will ultimately lead up to an improved level service delivery system at every facility they serve. The training will include (but not limited to):
Communication. Any person with a developmental disability finds it difficult to deal with any stranger and sometimes even to the people who they are already close with. The foundational step in Direct Support Professional training is to strengthen communication skills of its trainees in order for them to communicate better and also to ensure that their clients are able to express their emotions and feelings healthily.
Risk Management & Incident Reporting. The majority of people get stressed in incidents and can lose their minds entirely in scenarios of risk or incident. This training intends to raise the trainee’s potential to manage risks and report any incident effectively and fearlessly.
Positive Behavior Support. Most of the time, an individual with developmental disability needs simple positive regard for themselves. And a DSP can do it with a gesture of love, affection, and encouragement. That’s why trainees ultimately learn the techniques of positive behavior support.
Medication Management & Administration. A Direct Support Professional is responsible for everything about their client. Medication management is a necessary understanding given to trainees to handle any circumstances or situation of their clients.
The Individual Program Plan. Each client is unique, so trainees learn to create self-centered plans for each one. Creating a plan depends on the administration of the client and several factors achieved during administration and psychological techniques.
Developmental Disabilities Service System. Every state has some set criteria for serving developmentally disabled individuals. Most DSP training programs follow the relevant service system under that specific state. For instance, California has a system for special people.
Life Quality & Decision Making. DSP’s have an essential role in integrating the developmentally challenged people in their community. It means DSPs enable their clients to improve their quality of life. Decision-making is a necessary principle of leading a healthy and purposeful life. The trainees are thus trained at developing problem-solving and decision-making strategies.
Note: All the factors discussed above are the most common and general topics that form the foundation of a DSP training. Topics covered may vary depending on the year segment.