We are proud that Jerry Smith, a valued colleague of the DirectCourse team at University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration, is being honored with the 2021 John F. Kennedy Jr. Award for Workforce Advocacy and Leadership.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith was a leading contributor in the ICI/NADSP “DSPs and COVID-19” surveys where more than 24,000 direct support professionals shared their experiences in the largest sample of DSP responders in history.

His award winning documentary films include, “Invaluable: The Unrecognized Profession of Direct Support”, “Of the Community”, and you can read more about his work here.

Share Button
  1. 1Introduction: Nancy Thaler
  2. 2Background: Demographic Climate Change
  3. 3Family Caregivers: the Backbone of the Nation’s LTC System
  4. 4How are States Responding?
  5. 5Working with States: Developing Systems of Support
  6. 6Training and Support for the Supporters
  7. 7Overview: New HCBS Rules
  8. 8What Does Integration Look Like?
  9. 9Questions and Conversation
  10. 10Conclusion
  11. 11Invaluable: the unrecognized profession of direct support
  12. 12