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IDD Leader
For IDD Providers: Tired of the revolving door of staff? Join host Nate Beers as he and other industry leaders share loads of actionable advice on how you can retain and grow your DSP workforce. Just because there's a nationwide DSP workforce crisis doesn't mean that your organization has to churn through staff. Listen to innovative solutions to increase your staff retention and give your organization a competitive advantage so that at the end of the day you provide the best quality care for those you serve.
More effective supervisors. Stronger workforce. Lower turnover.
IDD Leader
Ep. 87 - What DSPs Know That Most Leaders Don't (w/ Steve Gonyea)
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What if the people most likely to solve your retention problem are already on your payroll — and nobody's asking them?
Steve Gonyea has been inside more human services systems than almost anyone: IDD, foster care, juvenile justice, mental health. He's a parent, a foster parent to 178 kids, and a former DSP who went on to become one of the most tenacious advocates in New York State. He's not an executive. He doesn't run a provider organization. And that's exactly what makes this conversation so valuable.
In this episode, Steve breaks down what actually happens to a family when a DSP walks out the door, why DSPs stop speaking up even when they have exactly the answers you need, and the story of how he turned a failing Xerox manufacturing line around — not with a new system or a new strategy, but by asking every single person on the floor one question: how can we do your job better?
The answer that came back almost every time? Nobody had ever asked them before.
📬 Connect with Steve: steve_gonyea@yahoo.com
🔗 Special Needs Resource Directory: specialneeds.help
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – What happens when a DSP leaves a family's life
02:24 – Steve's intro: 178 foster kids and counting
05:08 – From aerospace to advocacy — how Steve got here
09:06 – Why Steve became a DSP (and what he learned)
10:54 – What IDD leaders miss when they only see one corner
13:34 – What "a seat at the table" actually has to look like
15:32 – Taking wheelchair users sledding (and what happened next)
17:00 – The Christmas dinner no one planned — and the report that followed
20:43 – "It's telling that I was unsure if I was making the right call"
22:09 – Why your 98% satisfaction survey might mean nothing
25:57 – The Xerox plant story: from 67% to 107% efficiency
36:43 – DSPs leaving not for money — but because nobody listened
Quick Question:
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