It is well known that there is a critical shortage of direct support professionals (DSPs) who support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live in the community. While the work is high-skilled and varied in nature, wages remain low. COVID-19 had unprecedented adverse effects on DSPs, the people they support, organizations, and family systems. This Policy Research Brief describes a study performed by the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) and the University of Minnesota's Institute on Community Integration (ICI) to hear directly from DSPs about their experiences in supporting people with disabilities during this period. The study showed worsening quality of DSPs' work life since the beginning of the pandemic; providing a wage augmentation (increasing pay) for them during this period slightly improved their self-reported quality of work life.