18.88B.020 - Certification requirements.

Certification requirements.

(1) Effective January 1, 2011, except as provided in RCW 18.88B.040, the department of health shall require that any person hired as a long-term care worker for the elderly or persons with disabilities must be certified as a home care aide within one hundred fifty days from the date of being hired.

     (2) Except as provided in RCW 18.88B.040, certification as a home care aide requires both completion of seventy-five hours of training and successful completion of a certification examination pursuant to RCW 74.39A.073 and 18.88B.030.

     (3) No person may practice or, by use of any title or description, represent himself or herself as a certified home care aide without being certified pursuant to this chapter.

     (4) The department of health shall adopt rules by August 1, 2010, to implement this section.

[2009 c 580 § 18; 2009 c 2 § 4 (Initiative Measure No. 1029, approved November 4, 2008).]

Notes: Intent -- Findings -- 2009 c 2 (Initiative Measure No. 1029): "It is the intent of the people through this initiative to protect the safety of and improve the quality of care to the vulnerable elderly and persons with disabilities.

     The people find and declare that current procedures to train and educate long-term care workers and to protect the elderly or persons with disabilities from caregivers with a criminal background are insufficient. The people find and declare that long-term care workers for the elderly or persons with disabilities should have a federal criminal background check and a formal system of education and experiential qualifications leading to a certification test.

     The people find that the quality of long-term care services for the elderly and persons with disabilities is dependent upon the competency of the workers who provide those services. To assure and enhance the quality of long-term care services for the elderly and persons with disabilities, the people recognize the need for federal criminal background checks and increased training requirements. Their establishment should protect the vulnerable elderly and persons with disabilities, bring about a more stabilized workforce, improve the quality of long-term care services, and provide a valuable resource for recruitment into long-term care services for the elderly and persons with disabilities." [2009 c 2 § 1 (Initiative Measure No. 1029, approved November 4, 2008).]

Construction -- 2009 c 2 (Initiative Measure No. 1029): "The provisions of this act are to be liberally construed to effectuate the intent, policies, and purposes of this act." [2009 c 2 § 19 (Initiative Measure No. 1029, approved November 4, 2008).]

Severability -- 2009 c 2 (Initiative Measure No. 1029): "If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected." [2009 c 2 § 20 (Initiative Measure No. 1029, approved November 4, 2008).]

Short title -- 2009 c 2 (Initiative Measure No. 1029): "This act may be known and cited as the better background checks and improved training for long-term care workers for the elderly and persons with disabilities initiative of 2008." [2009 c 2 § 21 (Initiative Measure No. 1029, approved November 4, 2008).]

Continuing education requirements: RCW 74.39A.340.

Criminal history checks on long-term care workers: RCW 74.39A.055.

Nursing assistant reciprocity: RCW 18.88A.087.

Training requirements: RCW 74.39A.073.