Description

Title: Direct Support Professional I (DSP I)

Wages: appropriate to status and LEAP pay scale

Hours: as scheduled

Responsible to: Program Support II and/or Manager

Duties: Through their actions and interactions with persons served, DSP’s are responsible to implement the mission of LEAP, which is to empower persons with disabilities to lead joyful lives with dignity, independence and autonomy, by providing comprehensive and individual supports and optimizing the individual’s physical well being, self expression and experiences of joy.

DSPs are responsible for the following:

1. Deliver direct habilitation services to the persons residing in the community home, in cooperation with managers and coworkers: supervise, assist and instruct individuals in activities designed to enhance their independence at home and in the community while optimizing their physical well being, self expression and experiences of joy. All communication will be appropriate and conveyed in a positive manner, which serves as a model of communication for other staff and people supported.
2. Assist individuals served to exercise their rights. Protect individuals’ rights by following proper procedures and regulations regarding interactions, behavior management, medications, etc.
3. Participate in the person centered planning process for each individual. Implement activities to achieve the individual’s goals or ensure appropriate provision of care; document implementation and results; attend meetings as requested.
4. Facilitate individual’s use of medical, therapeutic and professional services by providing supervision and assistance during assessments and treatments and assisting individuals to follow through on recommendations.
5. Facilitate individual’s use of community services by providing supervision and assistance in planning and implementing activities utilizing community resources. Some DSP positions may require transporting individuals in agency or personal vehicles which mandates that employee to meet LEAP’s safe driving guidelines and report moving violations as they occur.
6. Assist individuals to receive adequate preventative health care by providing direct personal care (as appropriate) to both men and women, and monitoring health status.
7. Assist individuals to prepare and serve nutritional meals following planned menus and/or sound nutritional guidelines as recommended by the Federal Department of Health and Human Services and the USDA as well as LEAP’s dietary in-service. Assure people serve themselves items according to their own likes and preferences.
8. Assist individuals to care for their homes and personal possessions, realizing that ultimately it is the DSP’s responsibility to keep the house neat, clean, and orderly. Complete physical plant and housekeeping duties as appropriate to each shift, report unsafe conditions and/or items in need of repair to the appropriate contact in a timely fashion. Assure that exits, walkways, and the driveway are kept free from ice, snow, and obstacles which would impair people’s ability to evacuate the building.
9. Complete documentation and writing responsibilities in a timely, accurate, detailed, and objective manner consistent with LEAP’s policies and procedures. Such documentation may include but is not limited to: daily logs, incident reports, accident reports, habilitation and behavioral plans.
10. Be sufficiently familiar with applicable rules and regulations to ensure high quality services to the persons served, e.g. Assisted Living Regulations, Behavior Regulations, Person Centered Planning Process, LEAP policies and procedures, and human/legal rights. Discharge all duties in a manner consistent with these rules and regulations.
11. Interact with the persons served using positive interactions, appropriate tone of voice and volume, allowing reasonable time for responses, be respectful at all times, vary approach (try another way), encourage choices and model appropriate behavior at all times. Staff must be able to communicate with individuals in the mode preferred by the individual.
12. Assure the protection of the right to confidentiality for the individual served.
13. Assist the team in development and implementation of habilitation and behavior plans pursuant to the needs of each individual; with the ultimate goal of acquiring the skills necessary to lead a productive, joy filled life.
14. Report any situations which might be interpreted as abuse, neglect, mistreatment, or exploitation to your manager when you become aware of the situation. One of your primary responsibilities is as a mandated reporter assuring the safety and protection of the people we serve.
15. Assure that all communication is completed in a positive professional manner. Receive feedback in a professional manner.
16. DSP duties may require medium lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling 20 – 50 pounds on an occasional basis, frequent standing and walking, completion of household cleaning duties which may include bending climbing stairs, lifting, completing laundry, and the visual acuity to provide direct supervision of the individuals supported.
17. Other duties as directed by your manager
18. Safety Statement: Working safely and maintaining a safe work environment is a top priority at LEAP. The variety of tasks associated with the DSP role requires employees to remain focused on safety as they perform the tasks outlined above.

Requirements

Qualifications:

18 years of age, High School graduate or equivalent