DSP Recognition Week 2023: Sept. 10 - 16

Each year, beginning on the Sunday after Labor Day, we honor Direct Support Professional Recognition Week. This year it falls on Sept. 10 – 16.

It should always be the time to recognize our DSPs. This critical, caring and committed workforce needs all of our support. Underpaid and often undervalued (especially by the government agencies that fund them), they desperately need a living wage and decent hours.

This past New York State Legislative Session saw an important bill go nowhere. The Direct Support Wage Enhancement bill would raise wages an extra $4,000 per year in income for Direct Support Professionals. It was proposed on the heels of the legislature landing on a mere 4% cost of living increase.

Let’s get these workers the money they deserve.

Recommended Listening

Homesteads for Hope in upstate New York, has an excellent two-part podcast on the DSP crisis. They speak directly to people who specifically have worked in group homes, and their stories are eye-opening, appalling, and need to be heard.