Direct support workers play a critical role in the delivery of developmental services and supports. Given the centrality of staff-client relationships in human services, understanding how the transformation of developmental services is operationalized at the direct support level is critical for developing indicators for social inclusion, choice, and independence.

1. Understand the experiences of other jurisdictions in transforming the role of staff.
2. Benchmark current HR practices and management of performance outcomes.
3. Understand the dynamic links between HR management, work practices and personal outcomes in complex human service organizations.
4. Develop and test a set of indicators related to the role of staff in promoting social inclusion, choice and independence.

This research project began with a scoping review to understand the experiences of other jurisdictions in transforming the role of staff. Second, the research team will conduct a survey of human resource managers at service providers across the province. The survey instrument is designed to assess HR capacity and profile HR practices. Researchers will conduct qualitative case studies to better understand the dynamic links between HR management, work practices and the personal outcomes of people supported. This will lead to the development and testing of quality indicators related to the role of staff in promoting greater social inclusion, choice, and independence.

Robert Hickey, Principal investigator
Virgine Cobigo, Investigator
Hélène Ouellette-Kuntz, Investigator
Jacoba Lilius, Collaborator
Provincial Network HR Committee, partner
DSHR Strategy Committee, partner

Quality assurance measures require service providers to maintain certain management systems and report data which may be relevant to this research topic. It will be important to review these potential data sources early in the research project. A critical concern is whether quality indicators can be reliably measured through self-reporting, or if unencumbered evaluation is feasible. The project will need to assess the financial sustainability of measuring and reporting performance outcomes. Therefore, cost estimates for the collecting, tracking and reporting of the quality assurance measures would be important data to consider early in the project.