The First 90 Days Decide Your DSP Workforce

The direct support workforce is the infrastructure of community-based care, and the sector loses close to half of it every year.

When you break the turnover curve down by tenure, the shape is consistent across agencies: the steepest losses come inside the first ninety days. That is before a raise has landed, before benefits are meaningful, and before anyone has built a relationship worth staying for.

Agencies that reversed the trend did not start with compensation. They started with structured onboarding, a named mentor with protected time, and a written answer to the question every new DSP asks silently on shift two: what do I do if something goes wrong?

Compensation still matters enormously. But a raise handed to someone who already feels abandoned buys a few extra weeks, not a career.