[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 776 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

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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, in-home 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;
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

    (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--

    G    (A) the community-based services are appropriate;

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

    G    (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

    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) designates the week beginning September 13, 2020, as 
        ``National Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week'';
            (2) recognizes the dedication and vital role of direct 
        support professionals in enhancing the lives of individuals 
        with disabilities of all ages;
            (3) appreciates the contribution of direct support 
        professionals in supporting individuals with disabilities and 
        their families in the United States;
            (4) commends direct support professionals for being 
        integral to the provision of long-term support and services for 
        individuals with disabilities;
            (5) encourages the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the 
        Department of Labor to collect data specific to direct support 
        professionals; and
            (6) finds that the successful implementation of public 
        policies affecting individuals with disabilities in the United 
        States can depend on the dedication of direct support 
        professionals.
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