Community Support Skill Standards: Tools for Managing Change and Achieving Outcomes

The Community Support Skill Standards (CSSS) identify the master-level practice standards for direct service workers in progressive, community-based human service work environments. Developed and validated by a national coalition of key constituents, the standards represent the core skill and knowledge set applicable to frontline workers in a wide variety of human service program settings regardless of the specific job title or population served. Standards and performance indicators represent the result of a comprehensive, national occupational analysis and are organized in twelve functional domains of direct support practice including: Participant Empowerment; Communication; Assessment; Community and Service Networking; Facilitation of Services; Community Living Skills and Support; Education, Training and Self Development; Advocacy, Vocational, Educational and Career Support, Crisis Intervention, Organizational Participation, and Documentation.