The fourteen brief articles in this theme issue all examine challenges in the development of direct support staff working with people who have developmental disabilities. The articles also include the views of direct support providers and people with developmental disabilities themselves, as well as examples of strategies used by provider agencies and others to improve the recruitment, retention, and training of direct support staff. The articles are: "Good Staff, Bad Staff, No Staff At All: Advice from Two Consumers" (Jim Beaty and Nathan Perry); "People Need People: The Direct Service Workforce" (Amy Hewitt and Susan O'Nell); "A Call to Exemplary Service" (Marianne Taylor); "Assessing Workplace Recruitment and Retention: The First Steps" (Sheryl A. Larson); "Expanding the Direct Service Workforce: Possibilities through School-to-Work" (Teri Wallace); "Reducing Turnover: The VNCC Approach" (Laurel A. Ditson); "Turning It Around" (Mary Claire Mohrfeld); "Peer Mentoring: Mission--Possible" (Sue L. Curtis and others); "Providing Culturally Competent Services" (William Ebenstein); "Strategies for Addressing Workforce Issues"; "A New Perspective on Training at Dungarvin" (Sandy Henry and others); "Training the Trainer: Minimizing Expense, Maximizing Skills" (Howard Miller and Jo Johnson); "Collaborative Training: The MATC Program" (Susan O'Nell and John Westerman); and "Self-Directed Work Teams: An International Learning Experience at Vinfen" (Harry E. Dumay and Elisa Velardo). Also contains information on related World Wide Web sites and the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals. (DB)