Situation Report | October 19, 2020
On Friday, HCA, along with the New York State Association of Health Care Providers (HCP) and LeadingAge New York, wrote to the state Department of Health for clarification on some issues that the associations and our members had identified in the state’s process for a hybrid model of online aide training. That process was outlined recently in a Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) available here.
In the associations’ letter, we seek clarification on: which tests must be conducted in-person; where testing and skills assessment will be completed; why DOH (and not the agency) will be responsible for entering the approved hybrid training site into the Home Care Worker Registry; which information is required for the hybrid program training schedule; and more.
HCA will inform members about any response we receive from DOH.
The state’s DAL was in response to a concept paper and proposal developed by HCA, HCP and LeadingAge New York in consultation with a workgroup of members. Distinct from our concept paper, the approach ultimately adopted by the state is very prescriptive and imposes some additional requirements or features that HCA is working to further address.
HCA held a program two weeks ago that provided a review and discussion of the new state application process for programs wanting to conduct online aide training as part of a hybrid model. During that program, HCA also collected valuable input from participants to inform our follow-up requests and calls for clarification with the Department.