Providence of Maryland, Inc. Stays Engaged With New DSP Hires

Posted on September 2, 2025

In September 2023, CQL published an article about Providence of Maryland, Inc.’s Touch Points program. The initiative was set up to regularly check in with newly hired direct support professionals (DSPs) during the first six months of their employment. The program helped enhance the DSP experience and improve retention, by offering support, guidance, mentorship, and more for new staff. During National Direct Support Professional Recognition Week in 2025, we’re checking in with Providence of Maryland, Inc. for an update about their Touch Points program.

Submitted By: Novella Ogunshina, HR Coordinator, Providence of Maryland, Inc.

The Touch Points program is an intentional effort from Providence of Maryland, Inc. to connect with new hires periodically in their first six months, from different levels in the organization. Through this program, we can do our part to ensure direct support professionals (DSPs) are having great experiences, and we can help them understand who we are as an organization. Through this time of consistent feedback, we are also able to build trust and better respond to the initial questions, concerns, or feedback that many first-time employees have. 

The Impact Of The Touch Points Program

This program has strengthened our ability to retain employees that we otherwise would not be able to keep, by addressing common questions and specific concerns from new team members in an agile manner. We can quickly direct people to resources, correct misunderstandings, and elevate employee feedback beyond their immediate supervisors, to understand prevailing trends in the employee experience.  

The Touch Points program also includes opportunities to make employees feel welcomed. One step includes a gift exchange from a member of leadership to the employee based on information the employee shares in their pre-employment experience. We want to show staff through even those small gestures that we are listening and we care. 

We believe that supported staff support people better. Helping our direct support professionals feel more comfortable in their roles – in whom to contact with questions, and in building the self-assurance to proactively ask questions – builds their confidence in the organization and in themselves. We also know that when the people we support have consistent, supported staff to assist them to live their best lives, the experiences, opportunities, and connections are real.  

As an organization, when we are able to keep more of our DSPs, we can begin to focus on refining skills with employees who stay and grow with Providence. Then, we will not have our focus dominated solely on the constant cycle of initial training. 

Data Demonstrating Success

A core marker we look at is the percentage of those who stay with Providence within a calendar year. In 2022, 43% of staff stayed a year or more. In 2023, 57.14% of staff stayed a year or more. Although it’s too soon to calculate for 2024, it seems like we are continuing to progress! 

Outside of that statistic, the feedback that we get from staff and supervisors is our measure of success. When we check in with staff, we receive feedback that they “feel supported” and “feel welcomed.” When we ask staff in the monthly check-in, 96% of those surveyed agree or strongly agree that they “fit in well and made the right decision to join the team.” Supervisors report feeling grateful when they have the opportunity to address challenges that staff may be facing early.

Addressing Touch Points’ Challenges

Administrative

One challenge has been managing the consistent incoming data received from feedback. While tackling immediate concerns has been manageable, taking the time to understand larger data trends consistently has been difficult.  

Quality Control

We had a ‘touch point’ that included a scheduled check-in between co-workers, but we realized that we were not able to ensure that those conversations were consistent in quality, or that they would happen in the time needed.

Implementing Structural Changes

If we have consistent feedback about an aspect of onboarding, for example, determining when to make that change or figuring out a long-term solution can take time. E.g., we’ve had multiple people share feedback about training being ‘long.’ As a team, we had to determine if this was an issue that needed a structural change. 

Providence’s Solutions To Challenges

One solution was to change our process. We started to focus on what we could do well instead of what the ‘best’ option was. For example, we changed a step that involved a check-in with co-workers to a step that included leadership giving a gift. This allowed us to still engage with team members while diversifying the types of touchpoints we had. It also allowed us to have more quality control as we refined the process. We have also considered automation. We are still searching for ways to make the process more efficient and sustainable through auto-generated steps.

Quick Tips For Implementation

1. Prioritize ensuring that there is follow through and that there is agility in crafting solutions for staff. 
2. Touch Points help to craft an experience, and not every step will be about staff feedback. It is useful to include steps where we can give new staff something to make them feel more welcomed. 
3. Focus on what you can do well first. There is always room for improvements as you go! 

About Providence of Maryland, Inc.

Providence of Maryland, Inc. (Providence) is a nonprofit organization committed to people, and to a community where every person is engaged, involved and contributing in ways that matter to them. Since 1961, Providence has been working alongside people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live their best lives.

Providence is a leading non-profit supporting more than 300 people in Maryland to have real connections, real opportunities and real experiences in every aspect of their life including employment, community engagement, self-advocacy and home life. Providence provides a comprehensive mix of services and supports that are customized and specific to each person and their needs and goals through a person-driven planning process and are delivered in their community as much as possible. 

You can learn more about Providence by visiting the organization’s website: https://providenceofmaryland.org/ 

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Since 1969, CQL | The Council on Quality and Leadership has been a leader in working with human service organizations and systems to continuously define, measure, and improve quality of life and quality of services for youth, adults, and older adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and psychiatric disabilities. CQL offers accreditation, training, certification, research, and consultation services to agencies that share our vision of dignity, opportunity, and community for all people.