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Using Medicaid Home & Community Based Services For ICF/MR Funding To Pay for Direct Support Staff Training, Credentialing Programs
Maintaining quality of services and supports to people with disabilities who receive support through the a state’s Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver and other Medicaid funded programs is a major concern for government, providers, consumers and families, and therefore an essential priority of a state’s quality assurance/improvement program.
To fulfill the commitment to these stakeholders of providing high quality support, it is vital that states build the capacity to prepare Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) with the competencies and skills necessary to deliver effective direct support.
The federal HCBS program and the Medicaid state plan offer a number of options for states to obtain reimbursement for the cost of training programs and wage incentives for direct support workers who have attained the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) credential levels or other state identified educational programs making these education and training programs affordable within the existing policy frameworks. As the primary source of funding for people with disabilities in the United States, it is crucial that states lay the groundwork for using these options to assure an adequate and educated direct support workforce.
The NADSP created this document to help states make plans for creating direct support workforces through training and credentialing.
NADSP would like to acknowledge the support of the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS) in the preparation of this document.
