ACL Announces the Blazing New Trails for Community-Based Direct Support Professionals Prize Challenge Grand Prize Winner

The Blazing New Trails for Community-Based Direct Support Professionals prize challenge was launched by ACL to seek innovative solutions that would strengthen the direct support professional (DSP) workforce and increase the overall stability of home-and community-based services (HCBS) for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD).



After several phases of competition, ACL is announcing The Collaborative for Citizen Directed Supports –  NJ as the grand prize winner! 



Throughout the challenge competition, The Collaborative for Citizen Directed Supports – NJ developed their ideas, tested the implementation, and reviewed the long-term sustainability of their solution to demonstrate an innovative approach for improving the stability and size of the DSP workforce. 



The Collaborative for Citizen Directed Supports – NJ is a membership organization that promotes and expands citizen-directed services and supports in New Jersey. They developed an interactive map that indicates where self-directed employees (SDEs) and Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) are located so that clients can contact them about their services. 



The Collaborative for Citizen Directed Supports – NJ has built a network of over 700 people who can share and promote the map and DSP support solutions. DSP agencies can submit lists of their available staff to the map, and SDEs can submit information about their staffing preferences. With their small-scale testing, The Collaborative for Citizen Directed Supports – NJ demonstrated that through proper formalized partnerships, effective marketing, and professional training, it is possible to increase the size and improve the stability of the DSP workforce, while also improving the capabilities of the DSP workforce.  



As the grand prize winner, The Collaborative for Citizen Directed Supports – NJ will be awarded a $120,000 cash prize.



ACL expresses our sincere gratitude to the participants in the challenge for their contribution and commitment to improving the DSP workforce. 



As ACL celebrates National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), we applaud the DSPs who contribute to the success of ensuring people with disabilities have full access to employment and community involvement.

 

To learn more about the challenge competition, visit: acl.gov/DSPchallenge.