Apprenticeship Opportunity 

Direct Support Professional

What does a Direct Support Professional do?

Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) provide assistance to people with all of their personal needs and help them participate in programs that strengthen their life skills and ensure a safe and comfortable environment. 

Responsibilities of a Direct Support Professional include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Assist individuals with daily hygiene tasks, including bathing, dressing, grooming, and mobility transfers
  • Monitor chronic health conditions, administer medication, and help individuals attend medical appointments
  • Prepare meals tailored to specific dietary needs, assist with feeding, and ensure proper nutritional standards are followed
  • Help individuals develop and practice essential life skills such as cooking, cleaning, budgeting, and shopping
  • Understand and execute each person’s specific care plan
  • Facilitate participation in community life by providing transportation and accompanying individuals to social, recreational, and vocational activities
  • Maintain a clean, comfortable, and safe living or program environment
  • Input and maintain detailed, accurate logs of daily activities, behaviors, and medical progress using computers or mobile devices
  • Implement safety procedures and ensure a therapeutic environment at all times.

What are the prerequisites and qualifications to start the program?

  • High school diploma or an equivalency, such as a GED.
  • You must have a valid license to operate a motor vehicle in New York State. You will be required to maintain a valid driver’s license throughout your employment as a DSA.
  • You must meet physical and agility standards.
  • You will be required to have a medical examination before you are appointed and you are responsible for the payment of the clinical laboratory fee. Please note: The medical exam includes psychological and drug screening.
  • You must be cleared through the New York State Child Abuse Registry, the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs and the Medicaid Fraud Prevention and Detection database.
  • A criminal background check and fingerprinting will be conducted. You will be responsible for the processing fee.

When is training offered?

Training will be offered throughout the year. If you are interested in applying please fill out the form below.  Someone from our team will contact you via email with more information when the class becomes available.

Name(Required)
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Voluntary Disability Disclosure
Why are you being asked to complete this question? Read below "Voluntary Disability Disclosure."
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Voluntary Disability Disclosure

Why are you being asked to complete this form? Because we are a sponsor of a registered apprenticeship program and participate in the National Registered Apprenticeship System that is regulated by the U.S. Department of Labor, we must reach out to, enroll, and provide equal opportunity in apprenticeship to qualified people with disabilities.[1] To help us learn how well we are doing, we are asking you to tell us if you have a disability or if you ever had a disability. Completing this form is voluntary, but we hope that you will choose to fill it out. If you are applying for apprenticeship, any answer you give will be kept private and will not be used against you in any way.
If you already are an apprentice within our registered apprenticeship program, your answer will not be used against you in any way. Because a person may become disabled at any time, we are required to ask all of our apprentices at the time of enrollment, and then remind them yearly, that they may update their information. You may voluntarily self-identify as having a disability on this form without fear of any punishment because you did not identify as having a disability earlier.

How do I know if I have a disability? You are considered to have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity, or if you have a history or record of such an impairment or medical condition. Disabilities include, but are not limited to: blindness, deafness, cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, autism, cerebral palsy, HIV/AIDS, schizophrenia, muscular dystrophy, bipolar disorder, major depression, multiple sclerosis (MS), missing limbs or partially missing limbs, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder, impairments requiring the use of a wheelchair, and intellectual disability (previously called mental retardation).

Equal opportunity standards for apprenticeship program. Please review the “Equal Employment Opportunity in Apprenticeship Training Regulations” here.

(1) The Staten Island PPS (sponsor) shall recruit, select, employ, and train apprentices during their apprenticeship without discrimination based on political or religious opinion or affiliation, marital status, race, color, creed, national origin, sex, or age, unless sex or age constitutes a bona fide occupational qualification, or the physical or mental disability of a qualified individual with a disability;

(2) The SI PPS (sponsor) will uniformly apply regulations concerning apprentices, including but not limited to equality of wages, periodic advancement, promotion, assignment of work, job performance, rotation among all work processes of the trade, imposition of penalties or other disciplinary action, and all other aspects of the apprenticeship program administered by SI PPS; and

(3) The SI PPS shall take affirmative action to provide equal opportunity in apprenticeship, including adoption of an affirmative action plan as required by these regulations. The PPS will take affirmative action to provide equal opportunity in apprenticeship and will operate the apprenticeship program as required by these regulations and 29 CFR 30.