[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-584756-105":59,"doc-detail-584756-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","how-much-do-direct-support-professionals-make-putting-wages-in-context","HOW MUCH DO DIRECT SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS MAKE? - PUTTING WAGES IN CONTEXT","","A Policy Research Brief examines how low wages affect the direct support professional (DSP) workforce serving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the United States. It highlights a workforce crisis driven in part by wages that remain only slightly above state minimum levels. Using National Core Indicators staff stability data, the brief compares DSP hourly pay with similar occupations and with living wages, showing persistent and widening gaps, especially during the pandemic.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/how-much-do-direct-support-professionals-make-putting-wages-in-context/584756/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/how-much-do-direct-support-professionals-make-putting-wages-in-context/584756.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Damian","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-09","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What problem does the brief focus on for direct support professionals?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The brief focuses on a workforce crisis, where demand for DSPs is growing faster than the supply, partly due to persistently low wages.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does the brief compare DSP wages to other earnings?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It compares DSP hourly wages with wages in similar professions outside the IDD field and also with living wages based on typical costs of living.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What policy recommendations are proposed to address the wage and workforce challenges?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Recommendations include creating a SOC for DSPs, implementing Medicaid rate reform, setting adequate CMS-related state rates, ensuring wage increases reach DSPs beyond bonuses, and implementing regular COLA increases for HCBS.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},584756,1792052239,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":14,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":129,"read_time":24,"preview_page_count":4},137451208677,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","Volume 29 Number 1  \nPOLICY RESEARCH BRIEF  \nHOW MUCH DO DIRECT SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS MAKE?  \nPUTTING WAGES IN CONTEXT  \nResearch Issue  \nThe profession of direct support is one of the largest occupations in the United States. The demand for this essential workforce is growing, yet the supply of direct support professionals (DSPs) is nowhere near enough to match it. The DSP workforce crisis is well-documented and now approaching catastrophic proportions. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are notable to receive the services they are authorized, and some providers are closing programs, temporarily or permanently, because of worker shortage.  \nLow wages are a major factor contributing to the workforce crisis, with an average starting hourly wage of $13.61 in 2020* . DSP wages have always been low compared to other professions, often barely above the state’s minimum wage. To help put these low wages in context, this Brief compares DSP wages to what people earn in similar professions. It also compares DSP wages to living wages—the cost of living based on typical expenses that meet minimum standards of living.  \nThe gap between living wages and DSP wages has not decreased in recent years and with the onset of the pandemic it increased. For a single-adult household DSP with no children, the median gap between average hourly wage and living wage went from $0.54 above living wage in 2019 to $1.65 below living wage in 2020. For a family with one working adult and one child (which makes up a large proportion of DSPs), the median gap went from being $13.00 per hour below living wage in 2019 to $17.64 per hour below living wage in 2020. Such gaps between what people need to earn to live and what they actually earn are not sustainable.  \n* [https://www.nationalcoreindicators.org/upload/core-indicat](https://www.nationalcoreindicators.org/upload/core-indicat)[ors/2020StaffStabilitySurveyReport_FINAL.pdf](ors/2020StaffStabilitySurveyReport_FINAL.pdf)  \nStudy Background  \nThis Brief uses National Core Indicators® (NCI) Staff Stability data. Each year, NCI-IDD – a collaboration between the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services, the Human Services Research Institute, and participating state developmental disability agencies  \n– works with member states to implement the Staff Stability Survey. The NCI-IDD Staff Stability Survey collects comprehensive data on the Direct Support Professional (DSP) workforce providing direct supports to adults (age 18 and  \nover) with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) . The goal of the survey and the resulting data is to help states examine workforce challenges, identify areas for further investigation, benchmark their workforce data, measure improvements made through policy or programmatic changes, and compare their state data to those of other states and the NCI-IDD average.  \nThe NCI team publishes annual NCI Staff Stability Reports with their findings. Reports also include comparable wage tables from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment Statistics as well as living wage tables for participating states (derived from MIT’s Living Wage Calculator ( [https://livingwage.mit.edu/](https://livingwage.mit.edu/)) for that year. This Brief puts data on average DSP wages collected by the NCI Staff Stability Survey in context of the supplemental information contained in the reports: BLS data on comparable professions and MIT’s living wage data.  \nKey Findings  \nComparing hourly DSP wages to other professions with similar responsibilities Similar professions outside of IDD field have consistently earned higher wages.  \nComparing DSP wage to living wagemedian gap between state living wage and average DSP wage  \nThe gap between living wages and DSP wages has not decreased in recent years and with the onset of the pandemic it increased.  \nPolicy Recommendations  \nLow wages that fall far short of what is necessary for a living ","cbCaiiNpLZVSxSLG","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiiNpLZVSxSLG","pdf",284641,"English","# Study Background\n## Key Findings\n## Policy Recommendations","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the brief focus on for direct support professionals?\",\"answer\":\"The brief focuses on a workforce crisis, where demand for DSPs is growing faster than the supply, partly due to persistently low wages.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the brief compare DSP wages to other earnings?\",\"answer\":\"It compares DSP hourly wages with wages in similar professions outside the IDD field and also with living wages based on typical costs of living.\"},{\"question\":\"What policy recommendations are proposed to address the wage and workforce challenges?\",\"answer\":\"Recommendations include creating a SOC for DSPs, implementing Medicaid rate reform, setting adequate CMS-related state rates, ensuring wage increases reach DSPs beyond bonuses, and implementing regular COLA increases for HCBS.\"}]","HOW MUCH DO DIRECT SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS MAKE? - PUTTING WAGES IN CONTEXT | PDF"]