DSP 1 - Direct Support Professional

About Us

The Arc San Francisco is a non-profit service and advocacy organization for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families living in San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo counties. We currently serve a varied group of over 700 clients who, despite their diverse backgrounds, ages and disabilities, are all similar in their desire to live a life of greater self-determination, dignity, and quality. Our goal is to provide the supports that enable people with developmental disabilities to maximize their potential, live meaningful lives, and become integral members of the community. To that end, we provide a range of services relevant to all areas of adult life, from independent living supports and skills building to employment training and creative expression. As a true community partner, we believe in educational outreach, the power of business partnerships, and the importance of being a reliable resource for families, supporters, public policy makers and all those who share our vision of creating a more informed, diverse and inclusive society.

Job Details

Job Location

The Arc San Francisco

Position Type

Full Time

Hourly Rate - $20.50

Education Level

High School Diploma/GED

Job Shift

Day Shift

About the job

Works with adults with developmental disabilities in their homes who require significant supports to maintain a healthy and safe living environment, including and especially during defined disaster or emergency situations. Provides independent activities of daily (IADL) supports. Unusual circumstances which may require the continuation of essential services, provided by the DSP Essential include, but are not limited to:

Disaster (fire, earthquake, flood)

Public Health Emergency (flu, or other communicable disease)

Infestations (bedbugs, cockroaches, rodents, etc.)

Disruption of essential utilities and services (power failure, water contamination, etc.)

Civil unrest or disobedience (riot, strike or uprising)

Creates a learning environment in which participants can learn to live independently and interdependently in their home and in the community. Designs instruction methods based on measurable objectives, maintains records of participant progress, analyze barriers to learning, and creates alternative instructional plans to overcome barriers to learning. Travels and works with participants in their homes and in the community. Responsible for coordination of individualized service delivery to participants. Act as a liaison to families, care providers, case managers and community resources. Plans, implements, and coordinates clients' overall program plan.

What You’ll Achieve

The DSP provides one to one support with independent activities of daily living (ADLs) supports – the basic and more complex tasks that must be accomplished every day for the participant to thrive including:

Personal hygiene

Bathing, grooming, oral, nail and hair care

Continence management

A person’s ability to properly use the bathroom

Dressing

A person’s ability to select and wear the proper clothes for different occasions

Feeding

Whether a person can feed themselves or needs assistance

Ambulating

The extent of a person’s ability to change from one position to the other and to walk independently

Companionship and mental support

Reflects on the help that may be needed to keep a person in a positive frame of mind

Transportation and shopping

How much a person can travel or procure their grocery and pharmacy needs without help

Preparing meals

Planning and preparing the various aspects of meals, including shopping and storing groceries

Managing a person’s household

Cleaning, tidying up, removing trash and clutter, and doing laundry and folding clothes

Managing medications

How much help may be needed in getting prescriptions filled, keeping medications up to date and taking meds on time and in the right dosages

Communicating with others

Managing the household’s phones and mail and generally making the home hospitable and welcoming for visitors

Managing finances

How much assistance a person may need in managing bank balances and checkbooks and paying bills on time

Participates in regular training on and utilizes skills learned for generic and specific participant supports re: personal care, feeding, behavior, aging, managing chronic and acute health conditions, health impact specific to disability, and overall health & safety.

Provides in-person participants supports during disaster or emergency situations to participants whose health and well-being would be severely impacted without critical supports.

Develops and implements direct instructional plan for clients in community or residential sites. In conjunctions with service manager(s) prepares annual calendar for program participant reviews and assists program participants in facilitates case reviews and goal plan(s) for each program/ service.

Ensures maintenance of client emergency information, and client records.

Completes records and other documents in a timely manner as directed by direct Supervisor;

Updates IPP information as needed, completes assessments as needed, and

Maintains daily log of activities and observations.

Addresses all issues and crises related to client services.

Ensures implementation of all safety policies and procedures.

Attends and participates in relevant meetings, conferences and training as assigned.

Provides ongoing advocacy and follow-along support as needed for implementation of each client’s individual plan.

Performs other duties as assigned.

What We Will Offer

We strive to give competitive benefits packages that support our employees and include:

• Mental health, wellness benefits

• Career coaching & support

• 401k, Dental, Vision, Health, Life Insurance, etc.

These are some of the benefits we offer, and benefits vary based on role. If you are interviewing for this role, speak with your HR Recruiter to learn more regarding the total compensation and benefits for this role.

Physical Demands

Repetitive key board use, phone use, walking, standing, bending stooping and direct client interaction.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT

The Arc San Francisco is committed to equal opportunity in the terms and conditions of employment for all employees and job applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or gender expression, genetic information, marital status, national origin, disability, citizenship or veteran status. We will consider qualified candidates with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirement of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.