Growing Together at Liberty ARC

As a member of the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP), Liberty ARC provides the opportunity for direct care staff to become nationally credentialed and advance within their career. Through the NADSP E-Badge Academy and a pilot program funded by New York State’s Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), Direct Support Professionals at Liberty ARC can study and achieve stackable electronic badges, which can be used to attain nationally-recognized NADSP Certification.

With three different levels of credentialing for DSPs (DSP-I, DSP-II, DSP-III), NADSP is one of the nation’s leading Direct Support Professional (DSP) associations, promoting excellence in direct support work.

Samantha Fetter is Liberty ARC’s first Direct Support Professional in Schenectady County to get accredited through the NADSP Accreditation Program. She has completed all three levels of certification.

Samantha began her career as a DSP at Maple Ridge Center Day Center in Rotterdam about 10 years ago.

“I was looking for full-time employment, and I came here and started working and I fell in love with the people. This is something I really enjoy doing,” shared Samantha. “I enjoy working with the people and assisting them to complete their goals and watching them grow in their independence.”

The NADSP Accreditation Program became available to DSPs in Schenectady County following the unification in May 2024. Samantha applied and was thrilled when she was accepted into the program last September.

“I wanted to be able to learn more, such as better ways to handle certain situations and better ways to work with my co-workers,” Samantha said. “It’s a good program to learn different ways to handle situations and support the people I worked with. The part that was most beneficial for me was learning ways to make things more person-centered and how to assist persons as they work on what they want to accomplish. I learned how to guide the people I support to advocate for what they want and what goals they want to work on.”

Samantha completed the program in March after six months of hard work and determination.

“It can be a lot of work, but you just have to focus and really want to do it,” she said.