1998 : a loose coalition of stakeholders connected to the intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) field in Ohio forms the ” Lighthouse Coves” (Lighthouse Cove) to address the challenge of creating a stable, well-trained direct support workforce for people with I/DD.
2001 : The Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council awards a multi-year grant to create a credentialing program. The initial project and grant is administered through the Ohio Provider Resource Association (OPRA), which immediately hires several consultants and contractors, including Amy Gerowitz (now Lighthouse Cove’s Executive Director Emeritus) as project director; Marianne Taylor from Human Service Research Institute, educational consultant; and University of Minnesota staff members Amy Hewitt and John Sauer, initial trainers.
2001 – 2003 : The initial program structure and curriculum are created, and in early 2002, they’re named “PATHS,” Professional Advancement through Training & Education in Human Services.
2003 : Lighthouse Cove designates eight PATHS Regions within Ohio, and classes begin in three of them – Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Toledo.
2004 : The National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) presents PATHS with their Moving Mountains Award.
2005 : Lighthouse Cove becomes a non-profit organization, independent of OPRA’s administrative structure. Additionally, the organization offers “licensed entity” status to providers. These “LEs” can then train their own employees with various PATHS “kits.”
2007 : The U.S. Department of Labor and Ohio’s Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) grant Lighthouse Cove funding to grow and sustain PATHS.
2008 : PATHS becomes the first statewide program to receive NADSP’s highest accreditation.
2010 – 2012 : Lighthouse Cove establishes the annual DSP Recognition Event, which helps reinforce the messaging that Lighthouse Cove is for DSPs, whether they started their first jobs yesterday, or they’re a 25+ year veteran of the I/DD field.
2013 : PATHS becomes “DSPaths,” Direct Support Professional Advancement through Training in Human Services. Lighthouse Cove releases the most extensive curriculum revision since developing the program and launches online courses, including DSPaths’ Basic Certificate. Additionally, Lighthouse Cove forms the DSP Council.
2014 : Lighthouse Cove hosts our first Summit, an annual conference specifically designed by and for DSPs, and secures funding for developing the Frontline Supervisor Credential. Former Lighthouse Cove Executive Director Amy Gerowitz and Board President Tony Thomas work on policy development with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to link DSP credentialing with wage increases. In partnership with OPRA, Lighthouse Cove pilots “Community Career Connections Partnerships Ohio,” or C3PO, to introduce the direct support profession to secondary-school-age students.
2022 : Lighthouse Cove assumes sole proprietorship and management of C3PO, and rebrands the program as “DSP-U.” Lighthouse Cove’s representation within the I/DD field now includes both the DSP Council members and a robust Frontline Supervisor Council.
2023 : Lighthouse Cove launches the DirectLine, a podcast centered around the lives and work of DSPs and the individuals they support. DSP-U gains momentum with Ohio’s County Boards of DD and secondary school systems through financial support from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund.