Reference check questions for direct support professionals

A direct support professional helps a person with an intellectual or developmental disability live the life they choose: getting ready for work, cooking dinner, taking medications, going to the bank, seeing friends. Much of the job is teaching and stepping back rather than doing things for someone, and no training certificate shows whether a candidate has that judgment.

Some of the people a DSP supports cannot easily tell anyone how they were treated, so the staff around them are the ones who know. A house manager knows whether the candidate covered the overnight shift they agreed to. A behavior specialist knows whether they stuck to the plan on a hard day. Ask about specific shifts, with the person’s identity left out.

Who to ask

• The house manager or program coordinator who scheduled the candidate and worked shifts alongside them.
• The behavior specialist or clinician whose support plan the candidate carried out, for how faithfully they followed it.
• A QIDP, case manager or service coordinator who read the candidate’s daily notes, goal data and incident reports.
• For day and employment programs, the program manager or job coach lead who saw the candidate support people at work and in the community.

Questions to ask, by competency

Choose the competencies that matter most for the position and two or three questions from each. Ask every reference the same set, and when an answer is a rating, ask for the example behind it.

Respect and choice

The job is to support a person’s own decisions and independence. A DSP who does everything for someone, or decides for them, can look efficient while doing the job badly.

1. When someone they supported made a choice the candidate disagreed with, such as how to spend money or a day off, how did the candidate respond?
2. How did the candidate teach a skill from a person’s support plan, such as doing laundry or riding the bus, instead of doing it for them?
3. How did the candidate communicate with someone who does not use speech, for example through a device, signs or pictures?

Behavior support

A behavior support plan sets out what staff should and should not do when someone is distressed. The candidate has to follow it when that is hardest.

1. What did the candidate know about the early signs that someone they supported was becoming upset, and what did they do when they saw them?
2. Has anyone raised a concern about the candidate restricting a person’s rights or movement outside a written plan, such as locking away food or blocking a doorway?
3. Rate from 1 to 5 how consistently the candidate followed support plans across different shifts and coworkers. What makes you choose that number? (rating)

Medications and health routines

In many programs DSPs pass medications and follow seizure, diet and choking-risk protocols. A small slip in any of them can send someone to the hospital.

1. If the candidate passed medications, how accurate were their medication administration records, and how did they handle a refused or missed dose?
2. How did the candidate follow a mealtime plan for someone at risk of choking, including on outings and busy evenings?

Notes and incident reports

Daily notes and goal data show what support was given, and incident reports protect the person and the staff. Both are only useful if they are accurate and on time.

1. How timely and complete were the candidate’s incident reports, including for an injury nobody saw happen?
2. Can you think of a daily note or a piece of goal data from the candidate that helped the team change someone’s support?

Dependability and boundaries

People supported rely on familiar staff, and a missed shift can leave a home short. Boundaries around personal money, photos and gifts protect the same trust.

1. How did the candidate handle overnight, holiday and mandatory overtime shifts, and did they ever leave before their relief arrived?
2. If the candidate helped someone manage their spending money, how did they keep receipts and records?
3. Did the candidate keep photos and stories about the people they supported off their personal social media?

Close the reference

End every reference the same way: ask whether they would hire or work with the candidate again and why, what support would help the candidate do their best work, and whether there is anything else you should know. The general question bank explains why the first of these matters most.

Checks a reference does not replace

• The checks your state requires. Background check, registry and training requirements for DSPs vary by state and funding source. Run each one that applies, and confirm any medication administration certificate with the program that issued it.
• The federal exclusion list, if your services are paid for by Medicaid. The HHS Office of Inspector General says health care entities should routinely check new hires and current employees against it.
• A driving record, if the candidate will drive people supported in an agency vehicle or their own car.

Warning signs to follow up

• The candidate or a reference describes the people supported in terms of control and compliance rather than support and choice.
• Mention of restraint, seclusion or withheld activities that were not part of a written plan.
• Incident reports that were late, incomplete or written only after someone else raised the problem.
• A pattern of no-call, no-show shifts or leaving a home before relief arrived.
• Vague answers about personal funds, gifts or contact with people supported outside work.

One warning sign is a reason to ask another question, not a verdict. Reference check red flags covers how to check a concern fairly.

Questions to leave out

Ask only about the work. Before an offer, the EEOC’s guidance says an employer may not ask a third party, such as a former employer, any question it could not ask the candidate directly. Leave out health, medical leave, age, family plans and other protected characteristics. What to leave out has the full list.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the requirements that apply to your organization, and in your state, with your counsel or HR policy office.