Home Care Aide Testing Pilot

In light of the home care aide (HCA) credentialing crisis, specific to long delays in testing and certification processes, WHCA is teaming up with the Department of Health (DOH), Aging and Long Term Support Administration (ALTSA) training unit, and Brookdale Senior Living to launch a pilot project aimed at alleviating the backlog.

Starting in early August, five of Brookdale’s approved HCA trainers will proctor both the skills and written/knowledge exams for home care aides training in these care settings.  DOH will collect data on the process and outcomes, with the ultimate goal of transitioning all HCA testing to the training programs where students take their classes. It is unclear how long the pilot project will last.

Like the nursing assistant skills testing, we are hopeful this transition will provide multiple successes, including decreased testing costs and travel time/distance, along with minimized student anxiety by testing in a familiar environment and with known individuals.

Vicki McNealley, WHCA’s Director of Assisted Living and Allison Lally, Brookdale’s Operations Specialist, are working closely with the HCA credentialing team at DOH and the training unit program managers at DSHS to create a proctor training, testing site checklist, and skills exam checklist prior to the August pilot launch.

For more information about the HCA testing pilot, please call Vicki McNealley at 360-352-3304 extension 107 or email her.