Commentary: Providers and educators are building pathways into the field. Competitive wages and career growth opportunities will help keep people in it.
By Kathryn Jerian and Michael Seereiter,
For the Times Union
Oct 27, 2026
Young people entering today’s workforce face a complicated landscape. Entry-level opportunities are increasingly competitive, artificial intelligence is reshaping professions once thought immune to automation, and many students are reconsidering what they want from a career and how much education they need to pursue it.
At the same time, New York’s disability service providers face the opposite challenge. We need more people to enter a profession built around something technology cannot replicate: human connection.
Direct-support professionals help New Yorkers with intellectual and developmental disabilities live independently, build relationships, find employment and participate fully in their communities. The work requires judgment, empathy, trust and an understanding of another person’s individual needs and aspirations.
At a moment when technology is challenging our assumptions about what work must be performed by people, direct support offers a powerful reminder that some of our most important work remains deeply human.
The challenge is introducing more people to it.
New data from New York Disability Advocates suggests providers and educators are already finding creative ways to do that. Nearly three-quarters of responding provider agencies currently operate or participate in workforce pipeline initiatives connecting students and job seekers with careers as direct-support professionals. Those efforts range from partnerships with schools and colleges to internships, apprenticeships and other work-based learning opportunities.
On Long Island, AHRC Nassau partnered with the Bellmore Merrick school district and the state’s Office for People With Developmental Disabilities to create DSP Pathways, a high school program that introduces students to careers in direct support. Students receive classroom instruction, gain hands-on experience and earn nationally recognized credentials while still in high school.
In its pilot year, all 12 students completed the course, 11 earned nationally recognized DSP credentials and every student received an employment offer from AHRC Nassau.
This is career-connected education with a tangible destination.
Other providers are showing the long-term potential of reaching students early. At The Arc Columbia-Saratoga, one participant began working in direct support while still in high school in 2019. Seven years later, she has built a career with the organization and is now moving into a management position.
Her experience illustrates what a successful workforce strategy should ultimately make possible: a path into the profession, opportunities to develop and advance, and a reason to stay.
Providers, educators and state leaders are showing what is possible when we work together. Now we need to build on that progress — because building pathways into direct support is only part of the challenge.
We also have to retain the people who choose this profession. That requires continued investment in the workforce itself, including competitive wages that recognize the value of this work and give these professionals a stronger reason to build lasting careers in the field.
Recruitment and retention are not separate challenges. A strong workforce strategy must do both.
At a time when young people are questioning what their working lives will look like, New York has an opportunity to introduce more of them to a career grounded in purpose, relationships and something no technology can manufacture.
Providers, educators and the state have already shown that creative workforce solutions can work. Now we must build on that progress with sustained investment in the people who make direct support possible.
Kathryn Jerian is the chief strategy officer of The Arc New York. Michael Seereiter is president and CEO of the New York Alliance for Inclusion & Innovation. Both are board members of New York Disability Advocates.