Home Care Agency Blueprint
What training must my caregivers have, and where do they get it?
If your state licenses home care, its rules set caregiver training and orientation requirements, which can cover hours, topics, who may train, and renewals. Federal rules may add layers when you serve Medicaid or waiver clients or run skilled home health. Build a matrix of what each role needs before the first shift and on a recurring cadence, and keep records. This site is a planning aid, not a state table and not a course catalog for sale.
Written under the direction of founder Scott McKenzie. Updated .
The short answer
Start with your state licensing agency: its rules say what training and orientation your caregivers need, and when. Add any layer that applies to you, such as a Medicaid or waiver program, OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard for caregivers with occupational exposure, or HIPAA training if your agency is a covered entity. Then write down where each topic will come from, who teaches it, and how you will record it and track renewals.
Three paths, one record
State-required vs agency choice
What your state requires, what a program may add, and what you choose to add yourself.
Orientation before the first shift
Topics, policies, a shadow visit and a skills check before a caregiver works alone.
Ongoing training and renewals
Records for every session, renewal dates, and refreshers on a schedule you set.
Use the free matrix
Caregiver training matrix
Thirty-one training items in six groups, from orientation to renewals, each tied to a source, your state or your own planning.
FreePrintableNo signup
Open the matrix →Where to get training
In-house trainers, colleges, CPR and first aid providers, state lists and online modules, and what to ask each.
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Read the guide →Go deeper
Common training gaps
Gaps worth closing early, each with a source, a pointer to your state, or marked as our own planning.
Questions, answered
Training hours, CPR, online courses, HIPAA, OSHA and records.
Caregiver training or owner training? This site covers training for your caregivers. Learning to run the agency yourself is a different subject; the Home Care Agency Blueprint main site covers it.
Your state may list training in its license rules; homecarelicenseguide.com helps you find them. homecarepolicyprocedures.com covers the written training policy in your policies and procedures manual, and homecarerecruitmentguide.com covers hiring before orientation starts. If you serve Medicaid or waiver clients, becomemedicaidprovider.com covers enrollment. Medicare-certified home health has its own federal aide training rules; see starthomehealthagency.com. For the whole startup roadmap, see starthomecareagency.com. All are also published by Home Care Agency Blueprint.
A planning aid, not proof of compliance. Nothing on this site can tell you that your caregivers’ training meets your state’s rules. It lists topic slots and habits and points you to the rules that apply, so you can check them for your own agency.
Your state sets the training rules. Your state licensing agency decides caregiver training and orientation rules for licensed home care: the topics, any required hours, who may train, how training may be delivered and when it renews. This site does not list state rules. homecarelicenseguide.com, also published by Home Care Agency Blueprint, helps you find your state’s licensing agency. Not legal advice. State training rules vary; check your state.
Frequently asked questions
What is the first thing to check?
Your state licensing agency’s rules for caregiver training and orientation. Everything else on your matrix builds on what your state requires.
Is this site a list of each state’s requirements?
No. We do not publish state tables. Check your state; homecarelicenseguide.com, also published by Home Care Agency Blueprint, helps you find your state’s licensing agency.
Who publishes this site?
Home Care Agency Blueprint, which sells courses and coaching to people starting home care agencies. We say so on every page so you can weigh our perspective.
Want to talk through your options?
A free 15-minute clarity call with Home Care Agency Blueprint. It helps people start home care agencies, so expect that perspective. You do not need your training plan finished first.
Book a free 15-minute clarity call