II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1332 

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 and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 of Direct Support Professionals Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Direct support professionals play a critical 

2 role in the care provided to individuals with intellec3 tual and developmental disabilities. 

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

5 services are experiencing difficulty hiring and retain6 ing direct support professionals, with a national 

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

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

9 vacancy rates increasing by 94 percent between 

10 2019 and 2021. 

11 (3) High turnover rates can lead to instability 

12 for individuals receiving services, and this may result 

13 in individuals not receiving enough personalized care 

14 to help them reach their goals for independent liv15 ing. 

16 (4) A discrete occupational category for direct 

17 support professionals will help States and the Fed18 eral Government— 

19 (A) better interpret the shortage in the 

20 labor market of direct support professionals; 

21 and 

22 (B) collect data on the high turnover rate 

23 of direct support professionals. 

24 (5) The Standard Occupational Classification 

25 system is designed and maintained solely for statisVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1332.IS S1332

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1 tical purposes, and is used by Federal statistical 

2 agencies to classify workers and jobs into occupa3 tional categories for the purpose of collecting, calcu4 lating, analyzing, or disseminating data. 

5 (6) Occupations in the Standard Occupational 

6 Classification system are classified based on work 

7 performed and, in some cases, on the skills, edu8 cation, or training needed to perform the work. 

9 (7) Establishing a discrete occupational cat10 egory for direct support professionals will— 

11 (A) correct an inaccurate representation in 

12 the Standard Occupational Classification sys13 tem; 

14 (B) recognize these professionals for the 

15 critical and often overlooked work that they 

16 perform for the disabled community, which 

17 work is different than the work of a home 

18 health aide or a personal care aide; and 

19 (C) better align the Standard Occupational 

20 Classification system with related classification 

21 systems. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF DIRECT SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL. 

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

24 means an individual who, in exchange for compensation, 

25 provides services to an individual with an intellectual disVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1332.IS S1332

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1 ability or a developmental disability (as defined in section 

2 102 of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill 

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

4 such individual’s independence, including— 

5 (1) services that enhance independence and 

6 community inclusion for such individual, including 

7 traveling with such individual, attending and assist8 ing such individual while visiting friends and family, 

9 shopping, or socializing; 

10 (2) services such as coaching and supporting 

11 such individual in communicating needs, achieving 

12 self-expression, pursuing personal goals, living inde13 pendently, and participating actively in employment 

14 or voluntary roles in the community; 

15 (3) services such as providing assistance with 

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

17 toileting, and ambulation) and with tasks such as 

18 meal preparation, shopping, light housekeeping, and 

19 laundry; or 

20 (4) services that support such individual at 

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

22 SEC. 4. REVISION OF STANDARD OCCUPATIONAL CLASSI23 FICATION SYSTEM. 

24 The Director of the Office of Management and Budg25 et shall, not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 


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1 of this Act, revise the Standard Occupational Classifica2 tion system to establish a separate code (31–1123) for di3 rect support professionals as a healthcare support occupa4 tion. Such code shall be a subset of 31–1120, which in5 cludes home health aides and personal care aides. 

Æ 


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