Paving Pathways to Careers and Advancement: Leveraging Registered Apprenticeships to Meet the Demand for Direct Support Professionals

The direct support professional (DSP) is a subset of the broader direct care workforce. DSPs play a crucial role in supporting people with disabilities to participate fully in their communities, live in integrated settings, and seek competitive integrated employment. To address the shortage of DSP workers, increases in hours, wages, and benefits, and providing opportunities for professional development and credential attainment to support career ladders for DSPs, will increase job quality and thus improve DSP recruitment and retention efforts. It is critical for people with disabilities to receive the supports they need from qualified DSPs so that they may engage in work and live independently. By assisting jobseekers and employees with disabilities, DSPs contribute to building a more diverse and stable workforce and economy.

Registered apprenticeships offer an effective solution to addressing the extreme shortage of DSPs and other in-demand professions. Join this webinar to discover how states, workforce systems, education and community partners are leveraging registered apprenticeships to meet DSP workforce demands. Registered apprenticeships provide structured training, clear pathways for professional growth, and hands-on experience that prepare individuals for meaningful work.

In this session, you will gain insights into how registered apprenticeships attract jobseekers to the DSP profession, improve their job quality, and expand career opportunities for DSPs. Workforce professionals will share best practices on utilizing registered apprenticeships and key findings from the LEAD Center’s recent brief, “Attracting Direct Support Professionals: Advancing Career Pathways with Job Quality in Mind,” will be shared, including supporting DSP-related unions and union organizing, encouraging advancement and wage progression into higher-paying, related professions, supporting DSPs’ pursuit of credentials and college degrees to reach career goals, and encouraging people with disabilities and others who want to work to become DSPs.

During this webinar, participants will learn:

• How registered apprenticeships can be designed to open doors to in-demand professions in which there are labor shortages, such as DSPs.
• How registered apprenticeships can provide critical onramps to work for individuals facing employment barriers, including people with disabilities.
• Strategies to improve job quality for DSPs, including programs designed to increase wages, benefits, and provide tuition support.
• How DSP roles serve as entry points into broader community service or healthcare career pathways.
• How to find resources to start a registered apprenticeship program.

Featured Speakers and a DSP in Action:

• Leah Cadena-Igdalsky, Associate, Social Policy Research Associates
• Kris Palmer, Senior Associate, Social Policy Research Associates
• Dan Paris, Supervising Apprenticeship Training Representative, New York State Department of Labor, Division of Employment and Workforce Solutions
• Sarah Wilson-Sparrow, Vice President, Workforce Development & Community Education, SUNY Schenectady County Community College
• Lauren Lankau, Assistant Vice President, Workforce Development & Community Education, SUNY Schenectady County Community College
• Jane Canale, Human Resources Director, Liberty ARC
• James Papaliosas, DSP Journeyworker, SWEP Job Coach, Liberty ARC
• Caroline Ryan, Deputy Director, Center for Innovation and Partnership at the Administration for Community Living
• Lauren Smith, Apprenticeship Training Program Specialist, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship

REGISTER FOR THE NOVEMBER 13 WEBINAR!

The LEAD Center is committed to ensuring that all attendees can participate fully in its webinars. We provide live CART and ASL interpreting for all our webinars. If you would like an additional accommodation, please email Elizabeth Layman at elayman@ndi-inc.org within seven days of the event.

The disability community is diverse. The LEAD Center is committed to being intentionally inclusive of race, ethnicity, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and disability in our research, programs, and partnerships. Talking about “intersectional identities” is important, and we strive to foster a learning environment. Therefore, we invite you to join our events with empathy and open-mindedness. Learn more about our dedication to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA).

Registration Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4yxgf4ZDT6u2JZOpcJvbLA