In early March 2022, NADSP embarked on its first ever national advocacy event, the 2022 Advocacy Symposium, Amplifying The Voices Of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs).  Earlier this week all of the Symposium legislative meetings concluded. Throughout the last two weeks, our attendees have participated in over 250 meetings with legislative staff to share the perspective of direct support professionals to the forefront of Congress and the Administration during a time of unprecedented workforce challenges. We are fortunate to share that several meetings culminated into additional sponsors to the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate bills regarding, establishing a Standard Occupation Classification within the Bureau of Statistics for direct support professionals (S. 1437 / H.R. 4779). To say we are proud is an understatement. As we continue the work to further our mission, we are grateful to the hundreds of participants who helped us make this event a success. Thank you for your work and sharing the critical role of direct support professionals.

We would like to extend our gratitude to the almost 400 individuals who participated in this event; 32% of which, were participating in their first advocacy event. To our presenters and state leaders, we thank you for making this event possible and supporting our state teams to amplify the message of DSPs. Finally, we are grateful to our Platinum Sponsor, CareSource and our Gold Sponsor, Amerigroup for supporting us in creation of this event.

“For the first time, direct support professionals, with help from self-advocates, family members, providers and researchers were able to share their stories with members of congress from 43 states, says NADSP President and CEO Joseph Macbeth. He continues, “This is only the beginning because advocacy work never ends, but the first steps have been walked and I believe our advocacy efforts will one day lead to true, systemic change that will improve the lives of many.”

We are happy to announce that this policy event will not be our last. In 2023, NADSP will host our next Advocacy Symposium and legislative meeting day. For those who could not attend the event, the recordings of our presentations are now available on the 2022 NADSP Advocacy Symposium webpage. We continue to receive feedback and follow up from our legislative partners. We look forward to sharing more on this event along with our next Call to Action for members and partners.

Additional Links and Handouts

2022 NADSP Advocacy Symposium Presentations – Watch Now

 “You are Enough” – by Dave Hingsburger and Roger Ramsukh – Watch Now

Download the NADSP Leave Behind Documents – Download

2020 Staff Stability Survey Report  – Download Now

The Establish a Direct Support Professional Standard Occupational Classification Petition  – Sign Now