About Us
What is the CDSN?
The Consumer Directed Services Network (CDSN) is a new non-profit organization created to improve the quality of the direct support workforce in California and improve services for Californians with developmental disabilities. The CDSN will accomplish these goals by:
- Helping its customer agencies recruit and retain a stable and well-trained work force
- Helping families and consumers with the direct hiring of quality support professionals
- Expanding the availability of person-centered and self-directed services
Mission statement:
To increase the availability and quality of consumer-directed community-based services for people with developmental disabilities by improving the recruitment, retention, training, and career opportunities of direct support workers, lowering the cost and improving the quality of service provider human resources administration, and incubating new service agencies.
The California CDSN: Founders and Partners
The UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and the Service Employees International Union have worked for the last two years to support the development of the CDSN. The CDSN has been incorporated as a non-profit public benefit corporation and operates independently of its founders. The CDSN is governed by a board of directors that consists of consumers, family members, advocates, and prominent experts in the field.
The CDSN is partnering with the University of Minnesota’s Research and Training Center on Community Living and the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education.
The CDSN has raised substantial support from private foundations and other institutions including the:
- The Annie E. Casey foundation
- Langeloth Foundation
- Haas Jr. and Haas Sr. Foundations
- Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative
- San Francisco Foundation
- University of California at Berkely
Contact Us
Office: 510-922-1513
Address: P.O.Box 5596
Berkeley, CA 94705