What? Why? How?
What is SPEAK?
SPEAK (Support
Providing
Employees’
Association
of Kentucky)
is a professional association within the Louisville area offering training,
support, and regional collaboration for direct support professionals (DSPs).
SPEAK receives its primary funding from a three year federal grant through the
Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Why does
SPEAK exist?
Sadly, turnover rates among DSPs nationwide are
between 40 and 77%. Contributors to high turnover include limited
preparation/skill training, frequent underpayment, limited opportunities for
advancement, and an overall devaluing of this profession. These factors,
together with the stressful, multi-faceted relationships that characterize
direct support work, culminate into a crisis concerning recruitment and
retention. SPEAK exists to address each of these critical issues. SPEAK is
committed to offering the supports necessary for DSPs to succeed and thrive in
their profession.
How will
SPEAK reach these goals?
To accomplish these goals, SPEAK offers a variety
of services. First, SPEAK offers a Job Preview to all job applicants to give a
realistic snapshot of the work they will be doing and the lives they will be
touching. Second,
SPEAK provides opportunities for newly hired DSPs to be mentored by an
experienced DSP for their first six months of employment. SPEAK also offers
formal and informal information exchange platforms for DSPs to receive
training and further their skill development. It is our
hope that these meetings not only will offer answers to questions faced on the
job, but they also will help connect isolated DSPs working to a larger network
of professionals working and investing themselves in similar capacities. SPEAK
also will serve as a vehicle for obtaining greater community supports for DSPs.
In addition to all these services, SPEAK will also give commemorative and
monetary incentives for reaching tenure milestones. For instance, every DSP who
reaches six months of tenure will receive a $75 honorarium. Every DSP reaching
one full year of tenure will receive a $100 recognition honorarium, be featured
on the SPEAK website and Newsletter, become a member of SPEAK, and become
eligible to be a DSP mentor. We believe that SPEAK will cultivate greater job
satisfaction and strengthen employee relationships that are based on trust,
communication, commitment, and influence. We look forward to the ways that we
can serve DSPs in this region, and we anticipate great results from our labors,
namely continued success and happiness in the lives of DSPs, and improvements in
the quality of care given to consumers.
"Reprinted with
permission from LINKS
Volume X, No. X Month, Year, published by the American Network of
Community Options and Resources (ANCOR). ANCOR is a national network of
providers offering quality supports to people with disabilities.”
Bill to Buoy Wages for
Long-Term Support Workers
Landmark legislation to amend Title XIX of the Social Security Act was
announced today by U.S. Representatives Lee Terry (R-NE) and Lois Capps (D-CA)
during the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR) annual
Government Activities Seminar. The Direct Support Professional Fairness and
Security Act is bi-partisan legislation designed to provide funds to states to
enable them to increase the inadequate wages paid to targeted direct support
professionals (DSPs) who, under the Medicaid program, provide services for
individuals with disabilities. This legislation acknowledges, for the first
time, the insufficient wages paid to a group of our nation's quiet heroes: DSPs.
"Wages matter and this bill takes a landmark step forward in raising the issue
nationally!" exclaimed Dr. Renee Pietrangelo, CEO of ANCOR.
There are more
than 54 million Americans with disabilities- eight million of whom have mental
retardation and other developmental disabilities-with nearly 14 million
requiring long-term supports and services…One of the biggest challenges facing
the United States in the 21st Century is assuring that individuals who have
disabilities have the quality supports they need to lead productive and
meaningful lives in the community. Yet, private providers who employ direct
support professionals face turnover rates of between 40 and 77 percent; rely on
fixed public funding to pay wages and benefits; and face a recruitment and
retention crisis that threatens the entire stability and quality of our support
system for people with disabilities.
"This crisis is real and it will worsen unless something is done to turn the tide. It is a real issue affecting real people in everyone's community-and it is likely to affect all of us," declared Dr. Pietrangelo.
To read this
entire article and to obtain more information on the
ANCOR National Advocacy Campaign, visit them online at their
Website:
http://www.ancor.org
"Reprinted with permission from ANCOR
LINKS Volume X,
No. X Month, Year "
A copy of the publications in which the reprint appears must be sent to the
editor of LINKS.
Should you have any questions, please contact Marsha Patrick: mpatrick@ancor.org
SPEAK Guidance Team Description
SPEAK is fortunate to have a team of committed individuals to give guidance, direction, and oversight to SPEAK activities. The SPEAK Guidance Team includes family members of persons with disabilities, a Direct Support Professional; advocates; and community representatives from Metro United Way, Louisville Metro Government, Kentuckiana Works, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the state Division for Mental Health and Mental Retardation Services, and the Council on Mental Retardation . Each partner brings unique insights to the table and has helped shape SPEAK. Thanks in large part to their contributions, SPEAK is better able to meet the real needs of DSPs in this region.