Launching a State Worker Association: Getting Started

Shannon Gilbert

Hello, and welcome from Bloomington, Indiana!

I work 40 hours every weekend in a group home for adults with disabilities while raising my family. During the week, I am taking my final two classes at Ivy Tech State College in the Direct Support Professional (DSP) certification course. The classes I’ve taken so far have been a great help to me in my work: I apply many of my new skills every weekend.

But the leader in me didn’t emerge until I attended the Direct Care Alliance’s first Voices Institute National Leadership Training in Wisconsin last May.

After I got home from Wisconsin, I was full of ideas about what I wanted to do for DSPs here in Indiana. I wanted to start making a difference in training, wages and benefits for people who work with individuals with disabilities. I decided the best way to do that was to start a state chapter of the NADSP (National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals).

I’ve made progress since then, but it hasn’t been easy. Starting a chapter takes a lot of work, persistence and dedication to the cause, so I thought I would share my experiences with you in this blog.

One of the first problems I encountered was the fear of unions. Many of the agencies that I approached about their DSPs worried that I was somehow trying to form a union. I had to work hard to put them at ease. I told them NADSP is not interested in forming a union or pointing fingers at employers. The point of the association is to promote professionalism among DSPs.

About six months after my first round of talks, I received an email from Kim Opsahl at the Indiana Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (INARF). Kim had heard that other agencies were ready to start promoting the Indiana chapter of NADSP, and she wanted to help me get it going. Supporting the DSP workforce is part of INARF’s mission, and this year they were specifically charged with helping to support an organization run for and by the DSPs of Indiana.

We started holding conference calls to discuss the steps we need to take to get this chapter up and running. Joining us on the calls are Paula Shively and Leslie Green, the CEOs of two agencies that are supporting and promoting the DSP initiative. The fifth person on the calls is Mary Held. Mary works at Ivy Tech, where she works hard to provide education for DSPs. Many agencies educate their DSP’s through a training base called Foundations. Some Foundations graduates then go through the Ivy Tech DSP certification classes I’m taking, after which they may choose to get an Associate’s degree in human services.

Paula and Leslie have been a great support to our meetings and goals. I appreciate all the work Leslie and Paula have done and the time they have committed to helping us form a chapter, because I think it’s important to have the agency that you work for on your side and supporting you in your mission to better your profession. They’re also smart to do it, since supporting your staff is a good way to prevent turnover and keep good, hard-working staff at your company.

I also have a very helpful toolkit from NADSP on how to start a state association. The materials in the kit helped our group stay focused on what we needed to do.

We met with nine agencies last month to discuss the pros and cons of establishing a state chapter. Each one sent its CEO or an HR representative as well as at least one of its finest DSPs. I was amazed at the turnout and the amount of information we were able to discuss. We talked about potential obstacles, like time, funding, traveling, and agency buy in. We also discussed solutions to those problems, like doing more conference calls and using email to stay connected, and getting the CEOs of our agencies to support our mission.

At our next meeting, which is coming up soon, we plan to become an official state chapter and assign individuals to certain jobs and responsibilities. The next time I write to you, I hope to have a new association to report on.

Shannon Gilbert, DSP