Training and Staff Development Issues in Developmental Disabilities

Many new community options have been created for individuals who only a few short years ago would have been considered too handicapped for such settings. Yet, each new opportunity also presents new challenges for service providers, many of whom have not been adequately trained to effectively meet these challenges. This article discusses some of the new roles for service providers in the future, including professionals, parents, and paraprofessionals; examines some issues pertinent to their training; and offers recommendations for correcting weaknesses in our current training and service systems. A CRITICAL A N D growing national problem which pervades the service system for adults who are developmentally disabled is the shortage o f qualified staff (Fifield & Smith, 1985). One indicator o f the scope o f this problem is a national survey o f over 2,000 program ad-ministrators that identified the preparation o f direct car