Update: Home Care Aide Credentialing Problems? WHCA is Here to Help

The WHCA team has long been aware of the backlogs in home care aide (HCA) application processing, as well as the process of moving a pending application to an active credential once the employee successfully completes the certification exams.  We have worked diligently with the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), as well as legislators and the governor’s office to address a problem with great impact to caregivers and their residents.

Small and hopeful steps have been taken, including the Brookdale team’s willingness to participate in a pilot to offer the HCA certification exams in the facility programs where the students take their training.  This pilot is ongoing, and the results are hopeful, though the legislation that directed rulemaking to move testing to training programs died earlier this year. Senator Ron Muzzall (R-10) is also vested in learning more about this problem. His legislation, SB 5672, while not addressing all the issues that need to be corrected in the HCA credentialing system, would provide additional time for the credentialing process. We continue to work closely with the Senator Muzzal and other agency staff to accelerate the work on this matter.

At this juncture, with HCA candidates reaching their 200-day limit, we are seeing great caregivers losing their employment while DOH struggles to get this ship righted.  This continued inability to make swift and workable adjustments places residents at risk of not receiving needed care, jeopardizes talented caregiver employment, and places the facility at risk of citations and sanctions.

We have been corresponding with the Governor’s Office, DSHS, and the Department of Health regarding this untenable situation. We are urging prompt and effective action to address this problem. As a result, emergency rulemaking is underway to extend the timeline for some home care aides whose credentials are pending, and we are informed that the Department of Health will work to prioritize those home care aide applications where candidates are within three weeks of reaching the 200-day deadline for certification.

If you have home care aide candidates who have passed their certification exams and are within three weeks of reaching the 200-day mark, please email the following information to [email protected]:

• Employee’s full first and last name
• Date of birth
• Date of hire
• Home care aide credential number (pending number)

If you do not receive a response to this email in a week, forward the same information to Vicki McNealley via email.

Thank you for your continued dedication to the vulnerable adults of Washington state.