Workforce training program to offer professional development for caretakers

A pilot apprenticeship program for direct support professionals, or DSPs, may soon help more people develop workforce skills for caring for people with disabilities.

The apprenticeship program will be run through Lewis-Clark State College, in collaboration with organizations across Idaho that provide DSP service. 

Some of those include locations near Coeur d’Alene, Boise, Idaho Falls and Pocatello, said Doug Cruthirds, director of Workforce Training at LCSC.

Funded by a two-year, roughly $250,000 grant from the Idaho Workforce Development Council, the apprenticeship aims to bring in 40 new trainees in the first two years.

That money will go toward hiring a professional to oversee the apprenticeships, borrowing curriculum from a third party to kickstart the program, and developing curriculum specific for Idaho that will be used further down the line, Cruthirds said.

Cruthirds hopes to start the first cohort in the fall, he said, though the exact timeline is unclear.

DSPs often face high levels of burnout and turnover, he said, which is one of the things program organizers hope to address.

“A lot of people say they leave their jobs within the first year because they don’t feel like they’re adequately trained,” he said.

Hannah Liedkie is the president and CEO of Opportunities Unlimited, or OUI, a Lewiston organization that provides DSP support to people with disabilities. 

Liedkie brought the idea of a DSP apprenticeship program to Cruthirds about three years ago after talking to organizers of a similar program in Missouri. Now, OUI is one of the organizations slated as a community partner in the pilot program.

She said DSPs play a crucial role in communities by helping people with disabilities remain as independent as possible and contribute to society. 

However, Liedkie said, DSPs face a lack of professional recognition and adequate pay. At a federal level, DSPs do not have an official job categorization by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“When you go to this website, every job known to man is supposed to be in here. It gives you the average, median, high end of which states are paying more in each industry,” she said. “We’re not in there.”

That lack of information makes it difficult for the organizations that employ DSPs to get adequate Medicaid reimbursement rates to pay employees, Liedkie said.

Liedkie said she hopes the apprenticeships will help individuals gain professional recognition, and help organizations develop career ladders and better pay scales.

Cruthirds said organizers also hope the apprenticeship will  increase that recognition.

“We’re officially showing the Department of Health and Welfare, and some of the others, that this is not an entry-level job,” Cruthirds said. “In order to be good and successful at it, you do need training just like a CNA would need.”

The college received 13 letters of support from various agencies across the state while working to get funding for the program, he said. 

Liedkie said a certificate program could also allow DSPs to demonstrate experience and expertise in a given field if they decide to work somewhere else later in their career. 

Right now, she said, most places don’t have formal training programs to demonstrate skill. Liedkie said she wants DSPs to know their work isn’t a dead-end career.

“Journeymen, electricians, pipe fitters, all these people, they do apprenticeships. Very skilled people in their industry. They get to walk around and go, ‘Yeah, I am now a journeyman in this,’” she said. “(DSPs) don’t get to do that.”

The first cohorts of apprentices will be pulled from partner organizations, Cruthirds said, but the program may eventually grow to be an option for the broader student body at LCSC.