Utilizing Immigration Policy to Address a Growing Workforce Crisis

The United States faces an ongoing crisis in meeting the daily needs of people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). This crisis is driven by an ongoing shortage of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs), the frontline workers tasked with assisting the I/DD population. The shortage is projected to only grow over the next decade, and has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 public health emergency. This paper outlines these ongoing challenges, and proposes policy solutions to begin to rectify the issue. Specifically, this paper proposes enacting public policy measures related to immigration and managed migration that would increase the DSP supply in the United States and blunt the consequences of a dire public health dilemma.