The Core Standards for Information & Assistance Professionals in Self-Direction resource, developed with the generous sponsorship of Centene, is designed to provide information to states, managed care organizations, and other stakeholders regarding core competencies and skills for professionals providing Information and Assistance (I&A) in support of self-direction. I&A is essential for helping participants understand self-direction, navigate their program and its rules, and have a successful experience self-directing. An underpowered I&A function can limit not only a program’s growth and participant satisfaction but also its integrity, as one of the core functions of I&A is to provide additional program monitoring and safeguards.