NADSP Releases Revised Code of Ethics

Dear Colleagues,

Across the country, direct support professionals are walking beside people with disabilities as they pursue lives of meaning, autonomy, and connection. As our communities evolve, and the roles of the direct support professionals grow in both complexity and importance, the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) has taken a bold and necessary step: a full revision of the NADSP Code of Ethics.

For more than 25 years, the original Code of Ethics has:

• Guided our field
• Shaped direct support practice
• Inspired professionalism
• Reminded us of the profound responsibility we share as direct support professionals

But the world has changed. The expectations of people receiving support have changed, and the workforce itself has changed. It was time for our ethical foundation to evolve as well.

In 2025, we partnered with the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration to launch a thoughtful, rigorous, and inclusive revision process. This included subject matter experts, people with lived disability experience, and direct support professionals and frontline supervisors from across the country. Together, they examined the original Code of Ethics, sharing with us what remained strong, and identifying areas that needed to evolve.

This process included:

• Dozens of focus groups where direct support professionals and frontline supervisors shared real stories, dilemmas, and challenges
• In-person validation sessions using structured ethical scenarios
• Consensus-building to ensure each statement reflects the realities of modern direct support

Today, as we introduce the revised Code of Ethics, we are not simply sharing a document, we are renewing a commitment. When the original Code of Ethics was released nearly three decades ago, it helped establish why our field needed an ethical compass. Today, we no longer ask that question. We see its significance every day.

We ask organizations, associations, advocates, and governmental partners to endorse the revised Code of Ethics. But more importantly, we ask direct support professionals across the nation to embrace it, teach it, and adopt it. This Code of Ethics belongs to you, and we want it to guide you in your daily practice.

In the months ahead, NADSP will be offering webinars, open forums, and conference presentations around the country. We will also be integrating the revised Code of Ethics into our E-Badge Academy, where tens of thousands direct support professionals are already using the original Code of Ethics in their certification journey.

We extend our deep gratitude to the colleagues, experts, professionals, and people with lived experience whose wisdom shaped this revision. They remind us that ethical practice is not merely a set of principles, but a promise we make to one another and to the people we support.

Thank you for all you do to uphold that promise.

Joseph M. Macbeth
President & CEO
National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP)

NADSP Code of Ethics Resources