WHEREAS, Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) are the primary providers of community-based long-term support services for thousands of individuals with disabilities in Maine; and

WHEREAS, DSPs are valued for their work in building respectful and trusted relationships with individuals to assist them with their most intimate needs; and

WHEREAS, DSPs provide essential support that ensures that individuals with disabilities are included as a valued part of their community; supported at home, at work, and in communities across Maine; and empowered to live with the dignity that all people of our state deserve; and

WHEREAS, DSPs provide a broad range of individualized supports, including meal preparation, medication assistance, personal care and life skills training, mobility, work and life enrichment opportunities, and other daily tasks; and

WHEREAS, DSPs support informed choices and person-centered practices that honor and respect the individuals with disabilities that they serve; and

WHEREAS, during the COVID-19 pandemic, DSPs have played an instrumental role in ensuring safety and maintaining dedicated support and care for those they serve; and

WHEREAS, an adequate workforce of high-quality DSPs is necessary for the people of Maine to respond to the needs of people with disabilities, and to avoid more costly institutional care;

NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Janet T. Mills, Governor of the State of Maine, do hereby recognize the week of September 11th through the 17th, 2022 as

Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week

throughout the State of Maine, and I urge all citizens to recognize these health care providers who provide vital care for older adults and those with disabilities and mental health challenges.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this sixth day of September Two Thousand Twenty-Two