CDS: Working with Families and Support Networks
Related Competencies
CDS: Working with Families and Support Networks
College of Direct Support (CDS)
The College of Direct Support (CDS) is a competency based training and development tool. These competency sets are nationally validated and/or come from expert consensus. The foundation of competencies makes lessons and courses easier to use in a coordinated way. They can be selected to develop a person’s overall competence. They can be used to create a meaningful development plan. These lists provide you with the competency sets that reinforce the CDS content. They indicate the specific competencies covered by this lesson or course.
NADSP Competency Areas
The following competency areas and skill statements are used by the National Alliance on Direct Support Professionals (NADSP). The NADSP set is based on the Community Support Skills Standards (HSRI, 1996). The CSSS are a nationally validated set of competencies for DSPs. The ones listed below are only part of the whole set. They are the knowledge and skills a learner must be able to demonstrate at a basic level of competence having completed the content. See the full set of NADSP competencies and to learn more about the NADSP.
Area 4: Community and Service Networking
The Direct Support Professional should be knowledgeable about the formal and informal supports available in his or her community and skilled in assisting the participant to identify and gain access to such supports.
Skill Statements
- The competent DSP helps to identify the needs of the participant for community supports, working with the participant’s informal support system, and assisting with, or initiating identified community connections.
Area 5: Facilitation of Services
The Direct Support Professional is knowledgeable about a range of participatory planning techniques and is skilled in implementing plans in a collaborative and expeditious manner.
Skill Statements
- The competent DSP maintains collaborative professional relationships with the participant and all support team members (including family/friends), follows ethical standards of practice (e.g., confidentiality, informed consent, etc.), and recognizes his or her own personal limitations.
Area 6: Community Living Skills & Supports
The Direct Support Professional has the ability to match specific supports and interventions to the unique needs of individual participants and recognizes the importance of friends, family and community relationships.
Skill Statements
- The competent DSP supports the participant in the development of friendships and other relationships.
Area 13: Building and Maintaining Friendships and Relationships
Support the participant in the development of friendships and other relationships.
Skill Statements
- The competent DSP encourages and assists the individual as needed in communication with parents/family (e.g., phone calls, visits, letters).
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)- Direct Support Workforce Core Competencies.
The CMS core competencies for the Direct Service Workforce (DSW) were part of an initiative to improve access to high quality LTSS for all populations. The competencies are designed to improve worker quality. These competencies are designed to inform direct support service delivery and promote best practices in community-based LTSS. They are also a core foundation to career development. Only some of the competencies are listed here. These are the ones a learner should be able to demonstrate basic competence in once completing the content. Read the full set of CMS-DSW competencies.
Area 1: Communication
The DSW builds trust and productive relationships with people s/he supports, co-workers and others through respectful and clear verbal and written communication.
Skill Statements:
The Direct Service Worker:
- Communicates with the individual and his or her family in a respectful and culturally appropriate way.
Area 2: Person-Centered Practices
The DSW uses person-centered practices, assisting individuals to make choices and plan goals, and provides services to help individuals achieve their goals.
Skill Statements:
The Direct Service Worker:
- Builds collaborative, professional relationships with the individual and others on the support team.
- Participates as an active member of service or support team.
Area 10: Community Inclusion and Networking
The DSW helps individuals to be a part of the community through valued roles and relationships, and assists individuals with major transitions that occur in community life.
Skill Statements:
The Direct Service Worker:
- Encourages and assists individuals in connecting with others and developing social and valued social and/or work roles based on his or her choices.
- Supports the individual to connect with friends and to live and be included in the community of his or her choice.
- Helps the individual transition between services and adapt to life changes, including moving into home and community based settings.
- Respects the role of family members in planning and providing services.
NADD An Association for Persons with Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health Needs DSP Competency Standards
Supporting people with co-occurring intellectual disabilities and mental illnesses well takes special skill, knowledge, and effort. The NADD competency standards were to define critical areas of skill that people need to do this well. There are several levels of competencies developed by national experts in this area. The ones listed below are only part of the set for direct support professionals. They are the ones that a learner should be able to demonstrate at a basic level of competence having completed the course. Read the full set of NADD competencies and related certification and accreditation efforts.
Competency Standard 5: Community Collaboration and Teamwork
The qualified direct support professional (DSP) is competent in the area of “community collaboration and teamwork” as it relates to individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities and Mental Illness (IDD/MI).
Benchmark 5C: Facilitating Positive and Cooperative Relationships
The qualified DSP recognizes that he or she is often the first point of contact with families and others across multiple systems. He/she is also a central member of the professional team. The DSP considers the effects of his or her behavior and statements in interactions with others. The DSP is effective in his or her role as the liaison between individuals and other professionals providing services. As the main point of contact, the DSP provides accurate and complete information. He/she communicates the needs of individuals and supports a collaborative approach to treatment.
Benchmark 5C Performance Indicators
In the area of “positive and cooperative relationships,” the qualified DSP:
- Uses effective and welcoming communication and works in partnership with family members and friends of individual.
- Recognizes members of the person’s informal support network (family, loved ones) as integral partners in support and gathers input from them as appropriate.
- Effectively problem solves and communicates in a team setting for the benefit of the person supported.