Instructions for Adapting These Tools - Community Letter, Employment Verification Form, Essential Personnel Card

Sep 19, 2026

Upload by Mabel

Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) play an essential role in protecting the health and safety of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, especially during a global health pandemic. The toolkit provides step-by-step instructions to adapt three templates—Community Letter, Employment Verification Form, and Essential Personnel Card—so organizations and their staff can identify as essential workers under state and local ordinances implemented to keep people at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLetters

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time1 min

AccessFree to download

Instructions for Using Community Letter Template

Instructions for Using Employment Verification Form Template

Instructions for Using Essential Personnel Card Template

The World Needs to Know: DSPs are Essential. These Tools Can Help. Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) are essential to ensuring the health and safety of the people with intellectual and developmental disabilities they support. They are “essential staff” all the time, especially during a global health pandemic, and they must be seen as essential. The templates in this toolkit can be adapted to help you and the employees of your organization identify as essential workers in light of state and local ordinances that are being used to keep people home during the COVID-19 pandemic. This document provides easy-to-use instructions for how to adapt each of the three templates in this toolkit. If you need support using any of these tools, please contact André Floyd, ANCOR’s Communications Specialist, at [afloyd@ancor.org](afloyd@ancor.org). Instructions for Using Community Letter Template This Community Letter Template can be adapted by providers and shared with direct support professionals and other essential staff to show the essential nature of their work, should employees of your organization be questioned by local authorities about why they are violating federal, state or local ordinances requiring people to shelter in place. To adapt this letter: • Replace any of the fields highlighted in yellow with the pertinent information specific to your organization or state. • Replace the ANCOR logo in the header of the document with your organization’s logo. Instructions for Using Employment Verification Form Template This Employment Verification Form Template can be adapted by providers and shared with direct support professionalsand other essential staff to show the essential nature of specific employees’ work, should employees of your organization be questioned about whether their work is considered essential. It can be used on its own or in conjunction with the Community Letter Template. To adapt this form: • Replace any of the fields highlighted in yellow with the pertinent information specific to your organization or state. • Replace the ANCOR logo in the header of the document with your organization’s logo. Instructions for Using Essential Personnel Card Template This Essential Personnel Card Template is designed to be adapted by providers and distributed to all direct support professionals and other essential staff for them to carry in their wallets. These business-card sized Essential Personnel Cards make it easy for employees of your organization to respond to questions from local authorities if going to work may appear to be in violation of federal, state or local ordinances requiring people to shelter in place. To adapt and use this template: • Replace any of the fields highlighted in yellow in the upper, left-hand cell with the pertinent information specific to your organization. • Replace the ANCOR logo at the top of the upper, left-hand cell with your organization’s logo. • Copy the contents of the upper, left-hand cell and paste it over the content in each of the other cells on the page. • Each page contains six cards, so divide the total number of cards that you need by six, and then print that many copies of the edited page. • OPTIONAL: Laminate each of the pages printed prior to cutting the cards so the cards will hold up for a longer period of time. • Cut each sheet along the gridlines and disseminate the cards to each of the essential employees in your organization who will need them.

FAQs

What is the purpose of the three adapted templates in this toolkit?

They help providers and direct support professionals demonstrate the essential nature of DSP work if staff are questioned by local authorities about shelter-in-place or related ordinances.

How should organizations adapt the Community Letter Template?

Replace yellow-highlighted fields with organization- or state-specific information and swap the ANCOR logo in the header with the organization’s logo.

How do you adapt and distribute the Essential Personnel Card Template?

Replace yellow-highlighted details in the upper-left cell and use your organization’s logo there, then copy that content across other cells. Edit, print the required number of pages (six cards per page), optionally laminate before cutting, and cut along gridlines for distribution.

Sep 19, 2026

Upload by Mabel