a. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities strive to live active, engaged lives within the community.

b. Community inclusion is shown to promote the best outcomes and quality of life for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

c. Direct support professionals (DSPs) provide critical services and supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and without these services, community inclusion for many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities would not be possible.

d. DSPs support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in their own homes, family homes, provider-managed residences and programs, in the community, and workplaces. They support individuals with the activities related to daily living, including personal care, health and well-being, behavioral and mental health, relationship building, home and community participation, achievement of goals, and a variety of other individual needs. They require the ethics, skills, and competency to effectively provide these supports.

e. However, the system of services and supports that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities rely on for becoming contributing citizens in their communities is facing an ongoing workforce crisis, harming the ability of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to access services. This strain is further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

f. The DSP workforce crisis, that is evident across the nation, is characterized in several ways, including high turnover, difficulty recruiting, and no discernable career path, all of which threatens the number and quality of available services and supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

g. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has awarded Money Follows the Person funds (MFP) to the Department of Human Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) to address the DSP crisis through a process facilitated by DDD and the Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities, Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School to establish core competencies for New Jersey and related training. The federal MFP funding and this act represents a recognition of the need for a Direct Support Professional Career Development Program aligned with national and State core competencies in order to instill competence, confidence, and investment in the workforce that contributes to the well-being and quality of life of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities by providing an opportunity for career development, advancement, and learning new skills.

h. Efforts of the Direct Support Professional Career Development Program will be aligned with the competencies developed and adopted by New Jersey.

i. The Direct Support Professional Career Development Program shall have two objectives. First, the program shall conduct a pilot that focuses on DSP recruitment of high school or county college students, but may also be open to individuals pursuing a change in career, and oversee implementation of one-year paid fellowship opportunities. The program shall be responsible for determining and evaluating the criteria for fellowship recipients, and selecting new fellows on an annual basis.

j. The second objective of the Direct Support Professional Career Development Program shall be to provide support to existing and new DSPs with educational programming and experience that help them build skills and competency while working in the field and further their professional development.

L.2021, c.421, s.1.