Competency-Based Training and Worker Turnover in Community Supports for People With IDD: Results From a Group Randomized Controlled Study.

Bogenschutz et al. (2015) ran a group randomized trial in community homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Half the sites got competency-based BST for direct-support staff. The other half kept their usual training. The team then tracked how many staff quit over the next year.

Sites that received the BST package saw a clear drop in yearly DSP turnover. Control sites kept losing staff at the same rate. The study shows BST can keep frontline workers on the job, not just make them better at it.

Chen et al. (2001) surveyed 450 DSPs and found low pay, high stress, and young age push people to job-hunt. Matthew’s team built on that list and tested one fix: BST. The 2001 paper said ‘here is why they leave’; the 2015 paper says ‘here is one thing that makes them stay.’

Zheng et al. (2025) and Melendez et al. (2020) also used BST with staff, but they measured skill accuracy, not retention. All three studies show BST works; Matthew adds the business metric that keeps agencies alive—lower turnover.

Blackman et al. (2025) asked BCBAs, not DSPs, why they quit. Burnout topped the list. The same BST tools that saved DSPs could, in theory, be aimed at credentialed clinicians. No direct test yet, but the playbook is on the table.

If you run or supervise in IDD services, you know empty shifts hurt client programs and burn out the staff who stay. A ready-made BST package that cuts yearly turnover is money in the bank and safety for the people you serve. Add it at your next all-staff meeting.