College of Direct Support

The College of Direct Support (CDS) was founded to educate a workforce of Direct Support Professionals to support individuals with disabilities. The curriculum, values and mission are based on the premise that all people should live life to its fullest in community-based settings.

After birthing the idea for the CDS at Sertoma Center, we partnered with the University of Minnesota and MC Strategies to develop a web-based learning management system for direct care professionals nationwide. The system is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for learners to improve their skills in caring for people across disabilities.

CDS now reaches approximately 40,000 direct support workers every day in 25 states, including California, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota, Mississippi, Kansas, Tennessee, South Dakota, New Hampshire and Missouri.