The state provides a model curriculum, Principles of Caregiving. There are two sets of personal care aide training requirements in Arizona.ĭescription: Under the state’s Medicaid managed long-term care system, direct care workers who are employed by home care agencies must complete a state-approved training program within 90 days of starting employment.
After passing the test, they receive a portable certificate. Proof of Competency: Personal care assistants must pass a standardized competency exam administered by a home care agency or other training agency. Training must be provided by a registered nurse. Trainers may use their own curricula if they receive approval from the state. Personal Care Assistant (Agency-Employed)ĭescription: Agency-employed personal care assistants who provide Medicaid-funded services must complete training that follows a state-sponsored curriculum within their first four months of employment. There is one set of personal care aide training requirements in Alaska.ġ.
Because the state does not license home care agencies, workers employed by private-pay home care agencies are not subject to any statutory training requirements. Required Duration: No training duration specified, but workers must complete 12 hours of continuing education annually.Įxempted Workers: The state does not regulate training for personal care aides who are employed directly by consumers under Medicaid programs or through private-pay arrangements. Proof of Competency: No proof of competency required. Employers determine the content of this initial training. Personal Care Worker (Agency-Employed)ĭescription: Under state Medicaid programs, agency-employed personal care workers are required to undergo an orientation before providing services. There is one set of personal care aide training requirements in Alabama.ġ. If the regulations specify these additional elements, we have included them in our findings.įor states that require PCAs to be trained as home health aides or nursing assistants, we included requirements for those occupations in our findings. We excluded regulations that specify neither content nor duration, as well as training regulations that specify only first aid and CPR, as these skills are not specific to PCA roles.Īs well as reviewing content and duration requirements, we also searched for requirements on instructor qualifications, competency assessment, portability of credentials, and continuing education. We define a “training requirement” as a set of regulations that specifies training content and/or duration. We excluded direct support professionals, who assist people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as they have different on-the-job responsibilities and therefore distinct training needs. The focus of this research is PCAs who provide services to older adults and people with disabilities. To generate this national catalogue of PCA training requirements, we reviewed Medicaid regulations, Medicaid waiver documents, Medicaid provider policy manuals, and state licensure regulations. 17 states regulate instruction methods in at least one set of regulations, including 11 states and the District of Columbia that require trainers to use a state-sponsored curriculum or curriculum outline.34 states and the District of Columbia require PCAs to complete a competency assessment after training in at least one set of training regulations.26 states require a minimum number of training hours for PCAs in at least one set of training requirements, including 15 states and the District of Columbia that require 40 or more hours of training.The other 29 states and the District of Columbia have varying requirements for agency-employed PCAs, depending whether they work in specific Medicaid programs or for private-pay home care agencies. 14 states have consistent training requirements for all agency-employed PCAs, while 7 states do not regulate training for PCAs at all.Here, we present information on training standards for PCAs who support older adults and people with disabilities across all 50 states. Instead, there is a patchwork of training requirements which vary widely across and within states-and in many cases, these requirements fall short of adequately preparing PCAs to provide high-quality care. Training for personal care aides (PCAs)-who constitute one of the largest and fastest growing occupations in the country-is not governed by any federal standards, unlike training for home health aides and nursing assistants. THE NATIONAL DIRECT CARE WORKFORCE RESOURCE CENTER Nursing Assistant Training Requirements.Personal Care Aide Training Requirements.Organizational & Leadership Development.