• Welcome

    Are you interested in providing personalized support and care for older adults and/or people with disabilities? If so, this site is designed for you.

  • Career Pathways

    Learn how you can simplify the process to move to related positions within the work force. Read More

  • Continuing Education

    Learn about and register for a series of on-line training to keep your knowledge moving forward. Read More
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  • Welcome To Our New Home Page ~ Our Continuing Education Training Is Accessed On Our Menu Above
  • Elder Abuse Prevention Training Now Launched!
  • Just Posted - An Updated Career Pathways
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Looking for Continuing Education Courses?

You can register and access the courses easily on our training site at mainedirectserviceworkertraining.org  We offer 8 courses that range from Personal Safety to Dementia Basics.  Take a look at the training that is available for free!

Do you want to know salary information?

 Salary information is important when you are making a choice of careers. We will continue to provide the most up to date data on salaries as it becomes available. This link from the Maine Department of Labor provides an overview for some of the direct service worker careers.  

A Direct Service Worker

Is a name for several different titles of workers who support older adults and people with disabilities with their personal care, household and community activities.
 

May work with elders, adults with serious and persistent mental illness, children with emotional disturbances, and people with intellectual disabilities or autism.
 

May work in a hospital, nursing facility, residential facility, in a client’s home, or out in the community.
 

May be called a DSP, PSS, MHRT-1, BHP, CAN, HHA, CD-PA, CNA-M, CRMA.

 

What resources can you find here?

This site is a place where you can find information about the different kinds of jobs and career options in the Direct Service field as well as how to move between and advance to other related health and human service positions.

Here, you can access trainings required for Maine’s certification programs, such as Personal Support Specialist (PSS), Direct Support Professional (DSP), and Mental Health Rehabilitation Technician – Level 1 (MHRT), and you can take free online continuing education course on a variety of topics, such as substance abuse, brain injury, and dementia.

Why are these resources important?

All of the trainings and resources available on this site are intended to help you learn and grow and become more qualified in your work.

Direct Service Workers are the backbone of Maine’s long term support services system. Elders, adults, and children with long term disabilities living in the community depend on competent, qualified, and reliable direct service workers to live safely and successfully in their communities and homes.

As a Direct Service Worker, you play a huge role in determining the quality of care and quality of life of the people you serve.