From the DSP Perspective: Exploring the Use of Practices That Align With Trauma-Informed Care in Organizations Serving People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
IDD agencies already show some trauma-informed practices, but DSPs see collaboration as the weakest link—target team-building policies next.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The author asked direct support professionals how well their agencies follow trauma-informed care.
DSPs filled out a survey rating safety, trust, choice, collaboration, and empowerment.
All staff worked at organizations serving adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
What they found
DSPs said safety practices were strongest.
Collaboration scored lowest.
Non-white staff viewed the same practices more positively than white staff.
How this fits with other research
Friedman (2018) already showed that keeping the same DSP boosts client quality of life. Diaz (2020) now shows that DSPs see teamwork as the weak spot in trauma care.
Anderson et al. (2025) later found DSPs felt less supported than supervisors during COVID. Together the three surveys trace a line: staff feel safety first, teamwork last, and crisis widens the gap.
Gandhi et al. (2022) counted that 12% of DSPs have PTSD-level stress from client trauma. Diaz (2020) did not measure stress levels, but the low collaboration score hints why trauma load feels heavy.
Why it matters
You can act on this today. Pick one team-building policy: daily huddles, shared decision sheets, or rotating leadership of the morning meeting. Track who talks and who decides for one week. Better collaboration is the cheapest way to make trauma-informed care real for both clients and staff.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a systemwide approach that emphasizes organizational practices based upon principles of safety, choice, collaboration, empowerment, and trustworthiness. It is intended to influence an entire organization, with implications for clients and the workforce. The present study explored the extent to which IDD organizations utilize practices that align with TIC with their DSP workforce. Through an online survey, 380 DSPs (84% women; 82% white) responded to a trauma-informed organizational culture measure. Results demonstrated variability across items and significant differences between TIC principles with safety most strongly scored, and collaboration least strongly scored. Perception of organizational practices differed by ethnicity, with non-white DSPs having more favorable responses. Current practices with DSPs align with TIC, however, increased attention through explicit trauma-informed initiatives is warranted.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2020 · doi:10.1352/1934-9556-58.3.208