Direct care professional vs residential instructor

The differences between direct care professionals and residential instructors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a direct care professional has an average salary of $30,233, which is higher than the $29,695 average annual salary of a residential instructor.

The top three skills for a direct care professional include ADL, developmental disabilities and mental health. The most important skills for a residential instructor are direct care, autism, and data collection.

Direct care professional vs residential instructor overview

	Direct Care Professional	Residential Instructor
Yearly salary	$30,233	$29,695
Hourly rate	$14.54	$14.28
Growth rate	36%	12%
Number of jobs	122,720	60,002
Job satisfaction	3	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 35%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	48	26
Years of experience	-	-

Direct care professional vs residential instructor salary

Direct care professionals and residential instructors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Direct Care Professional	Residential Instructor
Average salary	$30,233	$29,695
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $41,000	Between $22,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	Vacaville, CA	Bell, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	North Dakota
Best paying company	Halliburton	Boston Higashi School
Best paying industry	Government	Education

Differences between direct care professional and residential instructor education

There are a few differences between a direct care professional and a residential instructor in terms of educational background:

	Direct Care Professional	Residential Instructor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 35%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	-	University of Pennsylvania

Direct care professional vs residential instructor demographics

Here are the differences between direct care professionals' and residential instructors' demographics:

	Direct Care Professional	Residential Instructor
Average age	48	26
Gender ratio	Male, 26.0% Female, 74.0%	Male, 29.8% Female, 70.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 7.9% White, 59.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	Black or African American, 12.8% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 13.0% Asian, 7.3% White, 60.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	7%	13%

Differences between direct care professional and residential instructor duties and responsibilities

Direct care professional example responsibilities.

Help each individual patient accomplish their specific ISP goals on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
Provide round the clock care alone with daily help of ADL's, transport consumers to and from appointments.
Provide ongoing consultation and support to parents of students with autism and facilitate ongoing collaboration with parents and staff members.
Provide services and supports to individuals with mental retardation and relate disabilities, head or spinal cord injuries, or autism.
Provide caring and companionship to elderly and developmentally disable consumers and provide primary resident care and assistance with daily living activities.
Preform necessary SCIP safety moves to prevent consumers from hurting themselves or others.

Residential instructor example responsibilities.

Engage, educate and empower participants to access community base resources in order to achieve greater self-determination, rehabilitation and recovery.
Participate in monthly ISP meetings regarding status and progress of each individual consumer.
Complete daily ADL s with clients per POC provide by behaviorists, therapists, etc.
Assist clients with all ADL's (activities of daily living), as needed while promoting independence.
Maintain documentation for administrating medication, daily logs, ISP information and other require data.
Engage, educate and empower participants to access community base resources in order to achieve greater self-determination, rehabilitation and recovery.

Direct care professional vs residential instructor skills

Common direct care professional skills

ADL, 15%
Developmental Disabilities, 13%
Mental Health, 7%
Autism, 7%
Direct Support, 6%
Social Work, 5%

Common residential instructor skills

Direct Care, 10%
Autism, 7%
Data Collection, 7%
Developmental Disabilities, 6%
Direct Supervision, 6%
Community Integration, 5%

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Personal Care and Attendants Industry
Direct Care Professional
Direct Care Professional vs Residential Instructor

Updated January 8, 2025

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