II 

Calendar No. 253 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1332 

[Report No. 118–116] 

To require the Office of Management and Budget to revise the Standard 

Occupational Classification system to establish a separate code for direct 

support professionals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 27, 2023 

Ms. HASSAN (for herself, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CASEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. 

KELLY, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

NOVEMBER 30, 2023 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment and an amendment to the title 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To require the Office of Management and Budget to revise 

the Standard Occupational Classification system to establish a separate code for direct support professionals, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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•S 1332 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recognizing the Role 

3 of Direct Support Professionals Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Direct support professionals play a critical 

7 role in the care provided to individuals with intellec8 tual and developmental disabilities. 

9 (2) Providers of home- and community-based 

10 services are experiencing difficulty hiring and retain11 ing direct support professionals, with a national 

12 turnover rate of 43 percent, as identified in a 2021 

13 study by the National Core Indicators, and full-time 

14 vacancy rates increasing by 94 percent between 

15 2019 and 2021. 

16 (3) High turnover rates can lead to instability 

17 for individuals receiving services, and this may result 

18 in individuals not receiving enough personalized care 

19 to help them reach their goals for independent liv20 ing. 

21 (4) A discrete occupational category for direct 

22 support professionals will help States and the Fed23 eral Government— 

24 (A) better interpret the shortage in the 

25 labor market of direct support professionals; 

26 and 


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•S 1332 RS

1 (B) collect data on the high turnover rate 

2 of direct support professionals. 

3 (5) The Standard Occupational Classification 

4 system is designed and maintained solely for statis5 tical purposes, and is used by Federal statistical 

6 agencies to classify workers and jobs into occupa7 tional categories for the purpose of collecting, calcu8 lating, analyzing, or disseminating data. 

9 (6) Occupations in the Standard Occupational 

10 Classification system are classified based on work 

11 performed and, in some cases, on the skills, edu12 cation, or training needed to perform the work. 

13 (7) Establishing a discrete occupational cat14 egory for direct support professionals will— 

15 (A) correct an inaccurate representation in 

16 the Standard Occupational Classification sys17 tem; 

18 (B) recognize these professionals for the 

19 critical and often overlooked work that they 

20 perform for the disabled community, which 

21 work is different than the work of a home 

22 health aide or a personal care aide; and 

23 (C) better align the Standard Occupational 

24 Classification system with related classification 

25 systems. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF DIRECT SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘direct support professional’’ 

3 means an individual who, in exchange for compensation, 

4 provides services to an individual with an intellectual dis5 ability or a developmental disability (as defined in section 

6 102 of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill 

7 of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15002)) that promote 

8 such individual’s independence, including— 

9 (1) services that enhance independence and 

10 community inclusion for such individual, including 

11 traveling with such individual, attending and assist12 ing such individual while visiting friends and family, 

13 shopping, or socializing; 

14 (2) services such as coaching and supporting 

15 such individual in communicating needs, achieving 

16 self-expression, pursuing personal goals, living inde17 pendently, and participating actively in employment 

18 or voluntary roles in the community; 

19 (3) services such as providing assistance with 

20 activities of daily living (such as feeding, bathing, 

21 toileting, and ambulation) and with tasks such as 

22 meal preparation, shopping, light housekeeping, and 

23 laundry; or 

24 (4) services that support such individual at 

25 home, work, school, or any other community setting. 


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1 SEC. 4. REVISION OF STANDARD OCCUPATIONAL CLASSI2 FICATION SYSTEM. 

3 The Director of the Office of Management and Budg4 et shall, not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, revise the Standard Occupational Classifica6 tion system to establish a separate code (31–1123) for di7 rect support professionals as a healthcare support occupa8 tion. Such code shall be a subset of 31–1120, which in9 cludes home health aides and personal care aides. 

10 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

11 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recognizing the Role 

12 of Direct Support Professionals Act’’. 

13 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

14 Congress finds the following: 

15 (1) Direct support professionals play a critical 

16 role in the care provided to individuals with intellec17 tual and developmental disabilities by providing a 

18 wide range of supportive services on a day-to-day 

19 basis to promote independence, including— 

20 (A) enhancing independence and commu21 nity inclusion of these individuals, including 

22 through travel and recreation, visiting friends 

23 and family, shopping, or socializing; 

24 (B) coaching and supporting individuals in 

25 communicating needs, achieving self-expression, 

26 pursuing personal goals, living independently, 


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1 and participating actively in employment or vol2 untary roles in the community; 

3 (C) providing assistance with activities of 

4 independent daily living (such as feeding, bath5 ing, toileting, and ambulation) and with tasks 

6 such as meal preparation, shopping, light house7 keeping, laundry, and home management; or 

8 (D) supporting individuals at home, work, 

9 school, or any other community setting. 

10 (2) Through the support of direct support profes11 sionals, individuals are able to lead self-directed lives 

12 within their own communities. 

13 (3) Providers of home- and community-based 

14 services are experiencing difficulty hiring and retain15 ing direct support professionals, with a national 

16 turnover rate of 43 percent, as identified in a 2021 

17 study by the National Core Indicators, and full-time 

18 vacancy rates increasing by 94 percent between 2019 

19 and 2021. 

20 (4) High turnover rates can lead to instability 

21 for individuals receiving services, and this may result 

22 in individuals not receiving enough personalized care 

23 to help them reach their goals for independent living. 


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1 (5) A discrete occupational category for direct 

2 support professionals will help States and the Federal 

3 Government— 

4 (A) better interpret the shortage in the labor 

5 market of direct support professionals; and 

6 (B) collect data on the high turnover rate of 

7 direct support professionals. 

8 (6) The Standard Occupational Classification 

9 system is designed and maintained solely for statis10 tical purposes, and is used by Federal statistical 

11 agencies to classify workers and jobs into occupa12 tional categories for the purpose of collecting, calcu13 lating, analyzing, or disseminating data. 

14 (7) Occupations in the Standard Occupational 

15 Classification system are classified based on work per16 formed and, in some cases, on the skills, education, or 

17 training needed to perform the work. 

18 (8) Establishing a discrete occupational category 

19 for direct support professionals will— 

20 (A) correct an inaccurate representation in 

21 the Standard Occupational Classification sys22 tem; 

23 (B) recognize these professionals for the crit24 ical and often overlooked work that they perform 

25 for the disabled community, which work is difVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Dec 01, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1332.RS S1332

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•S 1332 RS

1 ferent than the work of a home health aide or a 

2 personal care aide; and 

3 (C) better align the Standard Occupational 

4 Classification system with related classification 

5 systems. 

6 SEC. 3. REVISION OF STANDARD OCCUPATIONAL CLASSI7 FICATION SYSTEM. 

8 The Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

9 shall, as part of the first revision of the Standard Occupa10 tional Classification system occurring after the date of en11 actment of this Act, consider revising the Standard Occupa12 tional Classification system to establish a separate code for 

13 direct support professionals as a healthcare support occupa14 tion. 

15 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

16 If, after carrying out section 3, the Director of the Of17 fice of Management and Budget decides not to establish a 

18 separate code for direct support professionals in the Stand19 ard Occupational Classification system, the Director shall, 

20 by not later than 30 days after the first revision of the 

21 Standard Occupational Classification system occurring 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act, submit a report to 

23 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

24 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Education and 


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1 the Workforce of the House of Representatives explaining 

2 the Office of Management and Budget’s decision. 

3 SEC. 5. NO NEW FUNDS. 

4 No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated 

5 to carry out this Act. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to require the 

Office of Management and Budget to consider revising 

the Standard Occupational Classification system to establish a separate code for direct support professionals, and 

for other purposes.’’. 


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Calendar No. 253 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1332 

[Report No. 118–116] 

A BILL 

To require the Office of Management and Budget 

support professionals, and for other purposes. tion system to establish a separate code for direct to revise the Standard Occupational ClassificaNOVEMBER 30, 2023 

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the 

title 


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