Language

direct support worker · direct service professional

The person paid to help someone with an intellectual or developmental disability live and take part in the community.

D.S.P. · direct support professional acronym

The acronym for direct support professional, and the label that shows up in job ads, wage bills, and staffing surveys.

direct-care worker · direct care staff

A broad label for paid workers who help people with daily needs, across disability services, aging, and home care.

qualified intellectual disability professional · QDDP

The qualified intellectual disability professional who coordinates active treatment in an ICF/IID, not the person working the shift.

personal care attendant · personal care assistant · personal care aide

A personal care attendant, assistant, or aide, paid to help with daily activities. The title is a service as often as it is a job.

DSP versus CNA · direct support professional vs certified nursing assistant

A direct support professional is a community-support worker. A CNA is a certified nursing assistant under a state's nurse aide rules.

direct support versus direct care · DSP vs direct care worker

Direct support is the disability-services profession. Direct care is the broader labor and budget category that may include it.

front-line supervisor · direct support supervisor · house manager

The person who schedules, coaches, and covers the direct support shift. Not a QIDP credential and not a supports coordinator.

support coordinator · service coordinator · case manager

The person who writes and monitors the service plan and connects waiver services. Usually not the employer of the direct support staff.

home and community-based services · home and community based services

Home and community-based services: Medicaid support delivered in a home or community instead of an institution.

HCBS waiver · 1915(c) waiver · waiver slot

Permission for a state to set aside some Medicaid rules and offer home and community-based services to a defined group.

intermediate care facility · ICF/ID · ICF

An intermediate care facility for people with intellectual disabilities: a Medicaid institution with 24-hour active treatment.

self-directed services · participant direction · consumer direction

An arrangement where the person, or someone they choose, hires and schedules workers inside a Medicaid budget and a plan.

provider · community provider · disability provider

An organization enrolled to employ staff and bill Medicaid for disability services. It carries the gap between the rate and the wage.

community residence · group residence

The everyday name for a small shared residence where paid staff support people with disabilities. The billed service usually has another name.

supported living services · live-in support

Support delivered in a home the person controls, rather than in a residence the provider agency operates.

day program · day supports · day hab

A weekday, non-residential waiver service built around skills and community time, not around where someone sleeps.

FMS · fiscal intermediary · fiscal management service

The payroll and budget office for self-directed workers. It pays the attendant. It does not supervise the shift.

intellectual and developmental disabilities · ID/DD

Intellectual and developmental disabilities, the paired name Medicaid programs and agencies use for the people they serve.

I.D.D. · IDD services

The acronym for intellectual and developmental disabilities, written without a slash. It is the same service population as I/DD.

intellectual disabilities

A service category in waiver names, facility names, and level-of-care screens. The clinical definition is published elsewhere.

developmental disabilities · DD services

The broader service category states and the federal DD Act use. A waiver's own level-of-care rules decide who can enroll.

person centered planning · person-centred planning

Planning organized around a person's goals and routines. In a waiver, it is supposed to produce the service plan, not just a stack of hours.

ISP · individual service plan · person-centered service plan

The document that authorizes waiver services: goals, amounts, and who provides them. States abbreviate it ISP or something close.

PBS · positive behavioral support

A way of understanding behavior and changing the surroundings and the skills around a person. The written product is a behavior support plan.

BSP · behavior plan · positive behavior support plan

The written plan for what staff do around a specific behavior. It rides with the individual support plan and can include restrictions that need extra review.

habilitative services · hab

Support aimed at building skills for community life. Waiver services such as residential and day habilitation are built on this word.

pass-through · wage enhancement

A budget rule that requires providers to pay a share of a rate increase out as wages, instead of absorbing the whole increase.

rate review · rate rebase · provider rate study

A state's study of what a waiver service costs to deliver. The legislature can fund the modeled rate, a fraction of it, or none of it.

minimum DSP wage · wage minimum · direct care wage floor

A minimum hourly rate a Medicaid program sets for a named class of workers, separate from the provider's fee schedule.

rate schedule · provider fee schedule

The published list of what Medicaid pays for each waiver service, by billing unit. It is the price list, not the worker's wage.

NCI · NCI-IDD · NCI staffing survey

The state collaboration that surveys people receiving I/DD services and, separately, asks agencies about wages, vacancies, and turnover.

National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals

The National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals, which publishes a code of ethics, competencies, and a certification for the job.