Contact Information
Program Requirements
Typical Program
Degree/Certificate: Certificate
HEGIS Code: 5501
SUNY Code: 3833
Major Code: DSR
The Career
Direct support training leads to work in an expanding job market for habilitation services that provide help for individuals with disabilities attain, keep, or improve skills and functioning for daily living. For infants and toddlers, habilitative therapy often aims to help a child develop motor skills that they have yet to accomplish. These helping professions programs are designed to support individuals with the functional limitations typically associated with chronic mental illness in learning, maintaining, or improving skills essential for daily living. The focus is on helping individuals develop new abilities or regain skills they may have lost due to illness or injury.
Habilitation services include many types of therapies and support programs including (1) social skills training to enhance social interaction and communication; (2) physical therapy to improve mobility, strength, and coordination; (3) occupational therapy that develops personal care skills for daily living activities like dressing, bathing, and cooking; (4) speech-language therapy to improve communication skills, swallowing, and cognitive function; (5) using assistive technology to teach individuals how to use devices to overcome functional limitations; and (6) promote and support independent living skills such as practical household and financial management skills.
The role of the DSP may include supporting engagement with the community through employment, job coaching, and working with the employer to customize job duties; supporting people with disabilities be more independent; providing caregiving and support with activities of daily living that may include medication administration, mobility assistance, wound care, food prep; working with the people they support to advocate for rights and services such as accessing resources and opportunities in the community.
Entry-level positions such as direct support professional, habilitation specialist, recreation specialist, social skills trainer, case worker, supportive employment specialist, exceptional education aide, childcare assistant, coordinator, activities director, and residential manager create opportunities to experience a feeling of giving in the professional world. Advanced training leads to positions such as rehabilitation counselor, exceptional education teacher, social worker, and licensed practical or registered nurse.
The SUNY Niagara Approach
Through classroom study and field experiences, students will learn about the nature and treatment of disabilities. Coursework includes introductory skills in counseling, case management, and administering programs in the helping profession. Internships
will be experienced in group homes, sheltered workshops, nursing homes, hospitals, schools, shelters, habilitation programs, clinics and rehabilitation centers. Students will develop personal skills needed in the helping role.
Students who are employed or wish to complete an internship with an Office for Individuals With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) agency can jointly enroll and participate in a SUNY Microcredential program to receive national certification through the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) paid for by a grant through OPWDD. Students can receive tuition assistance for up to 21 credits towards the 32 credits needed for the certificate. All credits also align with the requirements for the Human Services AAS degree.
Admission
Students are admitted in fall, spring and summer.
The Direct Support Professional certificate can be completed full-time or part-time during the day or evening. It is offered in-person or online or a combination of both. All core courses including internships are offered online with the field placement hours coordinated with an agency related to your career goals.
Because of the sequencing of some courses or the need for foundations courses, it may take students beginning in the spring or summer semester longer to complete the degree.
See Human Services, A.A.S. for associate degree option.
Program Goals and Objectives
- To prepare students with the necessary qualifications for entry-level positions in the field of disabilities
Program Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate familiarity with disability services systems
- Discuss professional ethics as they relate to disability services
- Acquire first-hand experience helpful toward career development
- Integrate classroom learning with field experience
- Demonstrate an understanding of disabilities
