Direct care staffer vs residential instructor

The differences between direct care staffers and residential instructors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a direct care staffer has an average salary of $30,480, which is higher than the $29,695 average annual salary of a residential instructor.

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

Direct care staffer vs residential instructor overview

	Direct Care Staffer	Residential Instructor
Yearly salary	$30,480	$29,695
Hourly rate	$14.65	$14.28
Growth rate	36%	12%
Number of jobs	117,658	60,002
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 31%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	48	26
Years of experience	-	-

Direct care staffer vs residential instructor salary

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

	Direct Care Staffer	Residential Instructor
Average salary	$30,480	$29,695
Salary range	Between $19,000 And $47,000	Between $22,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	Salem, OR	Bell, CA
Highest paying state	Oregon	North Dakota
Best paying company	New York University	Boston Higashi School
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Education

Differences between direct care staffer and residential instructor education

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

	Direct Care Staffer	Residential Instructor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 31%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	-	University of Pennsylvania

Direct care staffer vs residential instructor demographics

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

	Direct Care Staffer	Residential Instructor
Average age	48	26
Gender ratio	Male, 27.5% Female, 72.5%	Male, 29.8% Female, 70.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 57.3% 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 staffer and residential instructor duties and responsibilities

Direct care staffer example responsibilities.

Provide and care for highly volatile patients, administering CPI when require.
Train and supervise individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities.
Assist consumers in development and maintenance of adaptive daily living skills.
Maintain client and community safety through appropriate application of CPI NVCI training.
Assist residence with disabilities, by bathing them, feeding and showing compassion.
Work with Kronos (timekeeping system) and making schedules for the DSP.

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 staffer vs residential instructor skills

Common direct care staffer skills

Mental Health, 14%
Developmental Disabilities, 8%
CPR, 8%
Patients, 6%
Autism, 6%
Crisis Intervention, 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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Zippia Careers
Personal Care and Attendants Industry
Direct Care Staffer
Direct Care Staffer vs Residential Instructor

Updated January 8, 2025

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