College of Direct Support
Overview
New York Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation serves as an administrator for the College of Direct Support (CDS), offering agencies the opportunity to enroll direct support professionals, front-line supervisors and other agency staff in the college at a reduced tuition rate. This opportunity offers cost-effective, quality, cutting-edge, in-house training for direct support professionals and their supervisors.
The CDS is a learning gateway for contemporary best practices in the support of individuals with developmental and other disabilities. It is made possible through the collaboration of the Research and Training Center on Community Living at the University of Minnesota (RTC) and Elsevier.
Incorporating a nationally recognized curriculum with web-based learning, the CDS is designed to promote the profession of direct support by offering direct support professionals and their supervisors the opportunity to grow in their knowledge and practice of the profession. As a web-based learning management system, it is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, enabling learners to hone their skills at times, locations, and a pace convenient to them and their busy schedules.
New Module: Dementia Care
New York Alliance is thrilled to unveil a powerful new addition to the College of Direct Support curriculum — a comprehensive Dementia Care module, developed by the renowned Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
As our population ages, the need for skilled, empathetic care has never been greater. This new module equips your staff with the tools and knowledge to provide exceptional support to individuals living with dementia.
Who Should Enroll?
This training is ideal not only for Direct Support Professionals but also for any staff supporting aging individuals.
What’s Included:
🧠 Dementia Care
🛁 Dementia and Personal Care
⚠️ Challenging Behaviors in Dementia Care
💞 Person-Centered Dementia Care
and more!
Students will gain critical insights into:
- Understanding dementia as a disease
- Recognizing signs and symptoms
- Managing health and behavioral changes
- Delivering person-centered, respectful care
- Supporting individuals and families
Curricula & How It Works
Module 1 (Direct Support)
Cultural Competency
Introduction to Developmental Disabilities
Individual Rights and Choice
Maltreatment Prevention and Response
Safety
Supporting Healthy Lives
Teaching People with Developmental Disabilities
Module 2 (Direct Support)
Community Inclusion
Direct Support Professionalism
Everyone Can Communicate
Functional Assessment
Person Centered Planning
Positive Behavior Supports
Professional Documentation Practices
Supporting Older Adults
Working with Families and Support Networks
You've Got a Friend
Module 3 (Frontline Supervisor)
Business Practices & Organization Development
People We Support
Workforce Development
Hiring Great Direct Support Professionals
Implementing Participant Direct Supports
Supervision and Leadership
Module 4 (Direct Support)
Civil Rights and Advocacy
Emergency Preparedness
Employment Supports
Home and Community Living
Introduction To Medication Supports
Personal Care
Supporting Jobs and Careers
Universal Precautions
Module 5 (Direct Support - Specialty Series)
Understanding Depression
Understanding Transitions Across Lifespans
Brain Injury
Cerebral Palsy
Diabetes
Epilepsy
DSP Role on Multidisciplinary Team
Intellectual & Development Differences
Introduction to Mental Health & Mental Illness
People We Support
Schedule
Semesters are 90 days each and announcements will be sent in advance of the specific dates listed below.
Fall Session
Registration Due: October
Start Date: November
End Date: January
Spring Session
Registration Due: February
Start Date: March
End Date: May
Summer Session
Registration Due: June
Start Date: July
End Date: September
Tuition
New York Alliance has entered into a partnership with the College of Direct Support on behalf of New York State agencies to access training at a reduced perlearner/per-module rate. New York Alliance also serves as the program administrator, acting as the liaison between agency learners and the college and managing the technical details, thus alleviating agencies of the managerial tasks associated with participating in CDS. Rates for New York Alliance Members and Non-Members are per learner per module and listed below.
New York Alliance Member Agency:
$150 Per Learner/Per Module (1-5)
$80 Per Learner/Dementia Care Module
Non-Member Agency:
$170 Per Learner/Per Module (1-5)
$95 Per Learner/Dementia Care Module
Calculating Tuition Cost:
Since the cost of enrollment in CDS is based on per learner/module, calculating agency enrollment cost is simple. Just multiply the total number of modules selected by the tuition rate. Once you have enrolled, New York Alliance will verify cost and bill accordingly.
Registration Options:
Registrations will only be accepted using the fillable PDF linked below.
Emailed registrations will not be accepted.
For questions, to learn more or take a self-paced online demonstration, contact:
Lisa Mount at [email protected] or Stacy Dowling at [email protected]
The Partnership
The successful relationship between CDS, the NY Alliance and your agency is critical to a successful learning experience. For its part, CDS is dedicated to providing agencies with cutting-edge content and technology. And, NY Alliance is dedicated to enabling agencies to access that content and technology in a cost effective and efficient way.
However, agencies are critical to their learners' success by supporting them in a variety of ways. Evaluations conducted by NY Alliance and CDS show that agencies with high learner completion rates actively recognize and support learners in different ways. These include:
- leading by example and participating in the CDS themselves;
- creating support groups of staff who have completed the CDS to assist or mentor new learners;
- planning activities associated with course work which facilitate the implementation of what was learned;
- providing staff with computer access and suppport, as many staff may not have home computers or may not be computer savvy (one agency offered learners the opportunity to purchase laptops, at the agency's cost, with a repayment plan of up to 18 months);
- and celebrating success by hosting "graduation" parties or sending out special notes and announcements about staff who have completed the course of study.
Some agencies also tie completion of course work with salary adjustments and/or promotional opportunities.
More Information: Agencies that provide services and supports in New York State should be particularly pleased with the opportunity to participate in the College of Direct Support, since the content of the CDS training aligns with the state required core competency implementations criteria (OPWDD Administrative Memorandum #2014-03).
