From the Oval Office to the Pope: What Human Services Leaders Can Learn from NADSP’s Unlikely Origin Story

Written By Nate Beers

If you’re a leader at an IDD organization, you’re carrying pressure most people will never see.

You’re expected to stabilize a workforce in a labor market that feels impossible. You’re advocating for better rates while simultaneously trying to support supervisors who are doing the emotional heavy lifting of everyone else’s burnout. And on top of that, you’re expected to somehow create a culture where DSPs feel valued, effective, and willing to stay.

It’s hard. You’re not imagining that.

But here’s something you may not know:

A solution to many of these workforce problems started in one of the most powerful rooms in the world—the Oval Office.
And its impact stretched all the way to a man in New York who had one dream: to meet the Pope.

I recently sat down with Joe Macbeth and Dan Hermreck from the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP). Their stories—and what they point to—can change the way your organization thinks about retention, skill-building, and the future of the DSP profession.

This is more than a good conversation.
It’s a roadmap.

It Started With a Report Handed to the President

In 1996, a woman with Down syndrome named Annie Forts handed President Bill Clinton a report in the Oval Office that would become the first official government document to identify the DSP workforce crisis.

Standing beside her was John F. Kennedy Jr., who chaired the committee.

That moment—quiet, historic, and almost forgotten—planted the seed for a national organization dedicated to elevating the DSP profession.

NADSP didn’t begin as a think tank.
It began as a response to something you and every other leader are still wrestling with today:

How do we build a competent, stable, respected DSP workforce?

The Story That Stopped Me Cold

On the podcast, Macbeth tells a story that perfectly answers this question.

A DSP in upstate New York had supported a man who took an annual trip to Florida with his housemates. One year, he wasn’t interested in going.

Rather than brush it off, she quietly asked him later what was going on.

He told her the truth:
“I want to go to Europe and meet the Pope.”

Most people would have smiled politely and moved on.
She didn’t.

She respected his dignity.
She respected his wish.
And she said these powerful words: “Let’s see what we can do.”

What followed was a year-long process of planning, paperwork, fundraising, conversations with his family, coordination with the agency, and navigating every policy, rule, and financial complexity you can imagine.

But they went.
They stood in the Vatican.
He met the Pope.
There’s a picture in his bedroom that proves it.

And here’s the part leaders often overlook:

This wasn’t luck.
It wasn’t personality.
It wasn’t “she’s just good with the guys.”

It was skill.
Professional skill.
Mapped directly onto recognized competencies.

This is what happens when DSPs understand their craft and see themselves as professionals.

Credentialing Isn’t a Program—It’s Identity Formation

When Macbeth and Hermreck talk about credentialing, it isn’t about badges on a page.

It’s about this: DSPs becoming aware of their own expertise.

It’s the transformation from “I’m just doing my job” to:
“I know exactly why what I do works—and I can articulate it.”

Here’s what organizations report after implementing the eBadge Academy:

  • Supervisors can instantly spot credentialed DSPs by how they carry themselves

  • DSPs become more intentional, not just intuitive

  • People supported experience more consistent and higher-quality outcomes

  • Turnover decreases

  • Career ladders finally mean something

  • DSPs feel proud, not overlooked

And as Hermreck put it:

“We’re not certifying pre-service. We’re certifying the professionals who are already out there doing the work—one badge, one skill, one 15-minute step at a time.”

For a field that desperately needs stability, dignity, and confidence, this matters.

Why This Matters for You as a Leader

Let’s be direct:

Your organization cannot out-recruit its way out of a workforce crisis.

But you can build a place where DSPs feel:

  • competent

  • supported

  • skilled

  • valued

  • and able to grow without leaving the role they love

That’s what credentialing provides.
Not a reward—an identity.

And when someone identifies as a professional?

They stay.
They contribute more deeply.
They elevate the people around them.
And they transform the culture you’re trying to build.

Your Next Step (Your Future Self Will Thank You)

If your agency doesn’t yet have a DSP credentialing pathway, you’re not behind—but now is the moment to begin.

Because once you see what’s possible, it’s impossible to unsee.

🌐 Learn about NADSP’s E-Badge Academy:
https://nadsp.org/services/the-nadsp-e-badge-academy/

And while you’re building a stronger DSP pipeline, make sure your supervisors don’t burn staff out in the process:

📥 Get the free resource: The 7 Quiet Danger Signs Your Supervisors Are Burning Out Their Teams
https://iddleader.com/burnout

Listen to the Full Conversation

🎧 Ep. 59 - From the Oval Office to the Pope: How NADSP Is Transforming DSP Work — featuring Joe Macbeth and Dan Hermreck

It’s one of the most inspiring, practical conversations I’ve ever had about the future of DSP work.

Nate Beers
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The New Rules Shaping DSP Pay and Policy