Latest Research, Reports, and Advocacy Briefs

Read Blueprint CDS: A Comprehensive Workforce Strategy for Community Disability Services, Summary Document (December 2022): A summary of all recommended strategies to recruit and retain a sustainable CDS workforce.

Read Blueprint CDS: A Comprehensive Workforce Strategy for Community Disability Services, Technical Document (December 2022): Following province-wide sector engagement, recommendations identified in the Initial Assessment report were validated and refined. This report provides detailed descriptions and suggested timelines for all recommended strategies, as well as summarizing all research and analysis performed to date.

Project Blueprint CDS Phase One (Initial Assessment) Report (August 2022): The report proposes a suite of integrated preliminary recommendations to address the workforce challenges identified through consultatons with service providers and other research, including three recommendations specifically targeted toward immediate needs.

Rising Costs in the CDS Sector (March 2022). Read the one-page summary and the full report titled, The Perfect Storm: Workforce Challenges and Escalating Costs in Community Disability Services.

ACDS Survey 2021, Organizational Wellness and Workforce (March 2022): Information about the ongoing impact of COVID-19, and data such turnover and vacancy rates. (Full report for members-only)

ACDS Survey 2021 Infographic: Organizational Wellness and Workforce (March 2022): A summary of the above report. 

Community Disability Services Workforce: An Essential Foundation for Quality Supports (February 2022): A summary of workforce issues in the Community Disability Services (CDS) sector, key statistics, and recommendations. 

COVID-19 Pandemic Year 2: Stories from Alberta's Community Disability Services Sector: (October 2021): Supplements ACDS' 2020 Impact and Insights: COVID-19 and Alberta’s CDS Sector report.

ACDS Survey 2020: COVID-19 Impact on CDS Workforce (March 2021): Data on the impact of the first wave of the pandemic on the CDS sector workforce. 

Impact and Insights: COVID-19 and Alberta's Community Disability Services Sector (October 2020): Synthesizes how service providers in the CDS sector were impacted during the first six months since the COVID-19 public health emergency was declared. 

ACDS 2019 Workforce Survey (March 2020): Comprehensive and vital information about the CDS sector workforce. 

ACDS has recently received funding to lead the development of a sector-driven strategy for the CDS workforce. Learn more about Blueprint CDS.