The Ivy Tech Community College department of human services recently received a grant from the Family and Social Services Administration to develop a new program to continue education for direct service professionals in Indiana. This grant enables the college to build a program that could be vital in advancing the careers of many professionals throughout the state.
Don Spears is a professor of human services and the program chair of the human services program at the Valparaiso campus. He has been with the school for more than eleven years, and his passion for his career is evident in the hard work he puts into building up the human services department at Ivy Tech.
Recently, his department received a grant from the Family and Social Services Administration, or FSSA, which is a department or a program within the state of Indiana. The department approached Spears to ask that he apply for this grant because they saw the potential in Spears to assist in creating a program that could enrich a field of specific interest.
“The FSSA recognizes the importance of a position called a direct service professional, or a DSP. DSPs work in agencies where they assist people with intellectual or developmental delays or disorders,” said Spears.
To start an entry position as a DSP, potential employees are required to have a high school diploma, a driver's license, and a clean background check. Most DSPs do not have a college education. In addition, the FSSA recognized that there was a problem with turnover of DSPs because it is not a high paying job as an entry level position.
“The FSSA wanted to work with me to develop a training program that would be provided to DSPs who are already working and have already received their orientation, or in-house training, from their employers,” said Spears.
Ivy Tech is working with multiple agencies in Porter and La Porte County to identify candidates who are particularly high performing DSPs that those agencies are most interested in retaining. The FSSA and Ivy Tech’s hope is that by providing this training and eventually a Technical Certificate in human services, DSPs will be more qualified, eligible for pay raises and promotions, and more likely to stay with their agencies.
“We are also working with the National Alliance of DSPs to try to make arrangements so that those who complete our program can be granted a certification from the alliance as either a DSP 1 or a DSP 2. That would be another credential that graduates would have. The agencies and FSSA are hoping that in providing this training, they would be giving a higher level of services to their clients,” said Spears.
The grant awarded to the department covers two years. Spears and his peers are putting together a pilot project, which is currently underway. Ivy Tech presently has a cohort of DSPs from several different agencies who are going through the training together. Once the cohort completes the first two years and has been evaluated, the Ivy Tech department of human services is to put together training materials so that Spears can train and work together with other program chairs around the state.
“This would ultimately become a statewide program where Ivy Tech Community College becomes the continuing education provider for DSP agencies throughout the state. Ivy Tech has a presence in most of the larger communities in Indiana, so we're the perfect institution to be able to provide this type of standardized training throughout the state,” said Spears.
Students who complete the program will receive a technical certificate with all of the necessary courses to receive an associate degree in human services, and if they’d like they could transfer to any school in Indiana to work toward a Bachelor of Social Work program. The DSPs program starts with a general technical certificate curriculum, comprising many human service courses and electives.
“We worked with some of our DSP agency partners in the community to pre-select the electives so that they would be most relevant to DSPs and the clients that they work with,” said Spears.
The program features cohorts, as previously mentioned. Creating cohorts is not only beneficial so that the agencies know the scheduling demands of encouraging their employees to continue their education, but this also allows all cohorts to learn the same skills that enable them to all learn a common education that is applicable to many agencies throughout Indiana.
“This is really beneficial because we were tasked by FSSA to not just provide training to one particular agency but to recruit DSPs from several different agencies. They have similar jobs and responsibilities, but they're coming from different agencies that provide them with different types of training. They can learn from each other based upon the training that they already receive, because it'll be a little bit different depending upon where they work. They also are working with the same kind of clients, so they can understand each other and provide support for each other,” said Spears. “Our hope is that they're going to learn from each other as much or nearly as much as they do from their faculty members and that, by having this collegial relationship among classmates with a similar background, that will increase retention and completion.”
Spears is proud of his department and their commitment to creating a better future for students and their partnering agencies’ clients as well. He is grateful for the opportunity that this grant provides for his department and students.
“The fact that we were approached directly from FSSA and asked to apply for the grant is really a testament to the quality of the curriculum we've got in the human services program at Ivy Tech Community College. We're very proud of that and we're confident in our ability to provide the type of training that's going to be beneficial to the DSPs, their agencies. and their clients. We're excited about this be the grant covering all of the expenses of this initial cohort so that it does not cost the agencies or the DSPs anything at all to complete this program. This grant is helping us put together a curriculum that's going to make a difference throughout the entire state of Indiana. We're really proud of that as well,” said Spears.
Students interested in the DSPs program or even a generalist curriculum for human services with two internships can look forward to enrollment throughout the year because Ivy Tech has five start times year round. The college is currently enrolling students for March classes as well as summer classes. Potential students don't have to wait until August to enroll in courses.
Interested in the DSP program with the department of human services or want more information on different degrees and certificates the Ivy Tech Community College’s department of human services has to offer? Email dspears18@ivytech.edu for more information.