Direct support professional jobs: what DSPs do and what you need

A direct support professional (DSP) helps people with intellectual and developmental disabilities live and take part in their communities. There is no federal training requirement for DSPs, so what you need depends on your state and your employer.

What a DSP does

A 2006 HHS report, quoted in a January 2025 ASPE report, describes DSPs as people paid to provide a wide range of supportive services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities day to day. The services include habilitation, health needs, personal care and hygiene, employment, transportation, recreation, and housekeeping and other home management supports, so those individuals can live and work in their communities.

ASPE reports that state officials who were interviewed see DSP work as different from the aide jobs. DSPs focus on social integration, skill development and independence, along with helping people set and reach goals and make their own decisions. Personal care aides, home health aides and nursing assistants mostly provide personal care.

Where DSPs work

ASPE says DSPs work in family homes, intermediate care facilities, small community residential settings, vocational and day training programs, group homes and community programs, and they support people in the community.

Training and certification

ASPE says there are no federal training requirements for DSPs. Training requirements vary by state and employer, with some states requiring a specific training program. That differs from home health aides and nursing assistants, where the federal minimum is a 75-hour course (see the home health aide and CNA pages).

The same report says there are no formal higher education requirements, and that most employers require at least a high school diploma or equivalent, a valid driver's license and no criminal history.

Where federal rules are missing, national organizations and states have built their own standards:

• The National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals runs a tiered certification that ASPE says needs at least 50 hours of training at the start and 20 hours of continuing education every two years.
• Registered apprenticeships, approved by the U.S. Department of Labor or a state apprenticeship agency, are used in some states. ASPE gives Missouri and Tennessee as examples.
• Illinois requires DSP training to cover six core competencies, including human rights, abuse and neglect prevention, and communication, according to ASPE.

States add their own rules. ASPE interviewed five states and found their approaches differ. Carevo does not guess at state requirements. Ask your state's developmental disabilities agency and each employer what applies.

DSP pay

BLS does not publish a wage figure for DSPs by themselves. ASPE says the Occupational Outlook Handbook does not list DSPs as a distinct occupation, and DSPs are counted mostly under personal care aides and home health aides.

For those two groups together, BLS reports a national median wage of $17.21 an hour, or $35,800 a year (SOC 31-1120, May 2025 reference period). That figure is not specific to DSPs, and DSP pay varies by state and employer. ASPE reports that low wages are one frequently cited reason for high vacancy and turnover rates.

How to find DSP jobs

Browse home care agencies and developmental disability services in your state, then contact the ones near you and ask whether they are hiring and what training they require.

For the wider picture across roles, see caregiver jobs. If you support a relative with a disability and wonder whether you can be paid, see paid family caregiver programs.

Carevo is a connection platform. It is not an employer and it does not place workers.

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Carevo is a connection platform. It is not an employer, it does not place workers and it does not guarantee work. Registration for caregivers is not open yet. If you want to hear when it is, email [email protected].