University of Minnesota, Research and Training Center on Community Living, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Intellect Dev Disabil. 2010 Oct;48(5):345-60. doi: 10.1352/1934-9556-48.5.345.
Self-directed programs that allow individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to exercise greater control over their finances have become increasingly common in recent years. At the same time, challenges in the recruitment, retention, and training of direct support workers in the field have grown more acute. In this article, the authors investigate the status of the direct support workforce for people using self-directed supports in 1 Midwestern state, based on the results of a statewide survey of service users. Although additional research is needed, the results of this study suggest that people who use self-directed funding options are satisfied with their ability to direct staffing, though challenges remain. Among these challenges, the presence of higher than expected wages but lower than expected benefits provision compared with traditional services may have serious policy and staff retention ramifications that affect the long-term viability of self-directed funding options. In addition, staff training remains a challenge, with service users in this sample reporting low rates of training beyond a general skill set. Implications of these findings are discussed.
近年来，允许智力和发育障碍者对自己的财务状况进行更多控制的自我指导计划变得越来越普遍。与此同时，该领域直接支持工作者的招聘、保留和培训方面的挑战也变得更加尖锐。在本文中，作者根据对该州服务使用者的全州调查结果，调查了在中西部一个州使用自我指导支持的人的直接支持人员的状况。尽管还需要进一步的研究，但这项研究的结果表明，使用自我指导资金选择的人对他们指导人员配置的能力感到满意，尽管仍然存在挑战。在这些挑战中，与传统服务相比，预期工资较高但预期福利较低的情况可能会对长期可行性产生严重的政策和员工保留影响自我指导资金选择。此外，员工培训仍然是一个挑战，本研究中的服务使用者报告说，除了一般技能集之外，培训率很低。讨论了这些发现的影响。
