E-Badge Project
NADSP Partnership
NTG partners with NADSP to create ID and dementia E-Badges
The NTG is pleased to announce its partnership with the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals, Inc. (NADSP) to create specialized intellectual disabilities (ID) and dementia E-Badge competencies as part of the NADSP’s portfolio-based credentialing program, the NADSP E-Badge Academy.
The NADSP E-Badge Academy offers Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) and Frontline Supervisors (FLSs) the ability to earn national certification through stackable electronic badges. These badges demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and values that these professionals utilize every day, recognizing the professional development that might otherwise go unacknowledged.
Since its launch in January 2019, NADSP’s E-Badge Academy has helped to raise DSP practice standards and provide a career ladder in recognition of the complexity of direct support services. The creation of NTG ID and Dementia specialized E-Badges recognizes the unique challenges facing aging adults with intellectual disabilities and dementia and will provide a new pathway to professional development for direct support professionals.
NTG ID and Dementia E-Badges are currently under development.
For more information on the NADSP and its E-Badge Academy please visit their website https://nadsp.org/.
e-Badge Activities and News
Pilot Training Scheduled for e-Badge Project
The NTG, NADSP, and the Merakey organization in Western Pennsylvania have collaborated on the first regional training for DSPs to obtain an e-Badge in Dementia and Intellectual Disability. The Merakey organization in Pittsburgh received a support grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to create an upgraded salary level for DSPs who complete and obtain their e-Badge in this topic. The NTG is contributing the curriculum for the topic. DSPs need to attend a two-day training to work toward toward their e-Badge, which is obtained after successful completion of a test and on-the-job demonstration of proficiencies. This training will count for the preliminary content training requirement.
For a follow-up story on Merakey's success, click here.
Dr. Bishop Offers Public Comment at NAPA Council Meeting about the e-Badge Project
Dr. Kathleen Bishop, NTG's Vice President, spoke at the January 22, 2024 quarterly meeting of the federal Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Research, Care, and Services, and told Council members that "Direct support professionals in organizations serving people with intellectual disabilities are the backbone of care, essential to the day-to-day care and support." She noted that NADSP E-Badge Academy was launched to address the need for the training and development of direct support professionals and explained how the the NADSP and NTG partnered to create an e-badge on dementia care and supports. So far some 150 workers have attended trainings in anticipation of earning their e-badges.