III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 776 

Designating the week beginning September 13, 2020, as ‘‘National Direct 

Support Professionals Recognition Week’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2020 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. KING, Mr. BROWN, Mr. MARKEY, 

Mr. MURPHY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. WARREN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. JONES, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. CASEY, 

Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. KAINE, and Ms. SMITH) 

submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Designating the week beginning September 13, 2020, as 

‘‘National Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week’’. 

Whereas direct support professionals, including direct care 

workers, personal assistants, personal attendants, inhome support workers, and paraprofessionals, are key to 

providing publicly funded, long-term support and services 

for millions of individuals with disabilities; 

Whereas, during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (referred to 

in this preamble as ‘‘COVID–19’’) pandemic, many direct 

support professionals continue to arrive for work every 

day in order to ensure the health and safety of individuals with disabilities; 


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Whereas direct support professionals provide essential services that ensure all individuals with disabilities are— 

(1) included as a valued part of the communities in 

which those individuals live; 

(2) supported at home, at work, and in the communities of the United States; and 

(3) empowered to live with the dignity that all people of the United States deserve; 

Whereas, by fostering connections between individuals with 

disabilities and their families, friends, and communities, 

direct support professionals ensure that individuals with 

disabilities thrive, thereby avoiding more costly institutional care; 

Whereas direct support professionals build close, respectful, 

and trusting relationships with individuals with disabilities and provide a broad range of personalized support 

to those individuals, including— 

(1) helping individuals make person-centered 

choices; 

(2) assisting with personal care, meal preparation, 

medication management, and other aspects of daily living; 

(3) assisting individuals in accessing the community 

and securing competitive, integrated employment; 

(4) providing transportation to school, work, religious, and recreational activities; 

(5) helping with general daily affairs, such as assisting with financial matters, medical appointments, and 

personal interests; 

(6) assisting individuals in the transition from isolated or congregate settings or services to living in the 

communities of their choice; and 


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(7) helping to keep individuals with disabilities safe 

and healthy during the COVID–19 pandemic, including 

by volunteering to quarantine with individuals whom they 

care for to reduce spread of the disease; 

Whereas there is a documented critical and increasing shortage of direct support professionals throughout the United 

States; 

Whereas the majority of direct support professionals are employed in home and community-based settings, and that 

trend is expected to increase over the next decade; 

Whereas many direct support professionals— 

(1) are the primary financial providers for their families; 

(2) are hardworking, taxpaying citizens who provide 

a critical service in the United States; and 

(3) continue to earn low wages, receive inadequate 

benefits, and have limited opportunities for advancement, 

resulting in high turnover and vacancy rates that adversely affect the quality of support, safety, and health 

of individuals with disabilities; and 

Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States, in 

Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999)— 

(1) recognized the importance of the deinstitutionalization of, and community-based services for, individuals with disabilities; and 

(2) held that, under the Americans with Disabilities 

Act of 1990 (42 U.S. 12101 et seq.), a State must provide community-based services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities if— 

(A) the community-based services are appropriate; 


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(B) the affected individual does not oppose receiving the community-based services; and 

(C) the community-based services can be reasonably accommodated after the community has 

taken into account the resources available to the 

State and the needs of other individuals with disabilities in the State: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) designates the week beginning September 

3 13, 2020, as ‘‘National Direct Support Professionals 

4 Recognition Week’’; 

5 (2) recognizes the dedication and vital role of 

6 direct support professionals in enhancing the lives of 

7 individuals with disabilities of all ages; 

8 (3) appreciates the contribution of direct sup9 port professionals in supporting individuals with dis10 abilities and their families in the United States; 

11 (4) commends direct support professionals for 

12 being integral to the provision of long-term support 

13 and services for individuals with disabilities; 

14 (5) encourages the Bureau of Labor Statistics 

15 of the Department of Labor to collect data specific 

16 to direct support professionals; and 

17 (6) finds that the successful implementation of 

18 public policies affecting individuals with disabilities 


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1 in the United States can depend on the dedication 

2 of direct support professionals. 

Æ 


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