Home Health Aide Certification Requirements by State

21 states and DC require a home health aide to hold the state's own certification, by each state's official rules read 9 Nov 2026: Alaska, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. By their own rules, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia issue no certification of their own, though the employer or the rules for its agencies may still set training. We have not yet read an official answer for Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska and Vermont. Each state's home health aide page says what its rule asks for.

At an agency Medicare certifies, the federal floor: "Classroom and supervised practical training must total at least 75 hours." and "A minimum of 16 hours of classroom training must precede a minimum of 16 hours of supervised practical training as part of the 75 hours." (42 CFR 484.80). 10 states ask for more by their own rules: Alaska 140 hours, Maine 130 hours, the District of Columbia 125 hours, California 120 hours, Illinois 120 hours, Rhode Island 120 hours, Oregon 105 hours and Maryland 100 hours and others. Each state's figure is in the table.

Not entirely, where the federal rule applies: of its 75 hours, "a minimum of 16 hours of classroom training must precede a minimum of 16 hours of supervised practical training as part of the 75 hours." The supervised practical part is done in person, caring for a patient under the direct supervision of a registered nurse (or an LPN supervised by one), as the rule says.

"A home health aide must receive at least 12 hours of in-service training during each 12-month period." (42 CFR 484.80), at an agency Medicare certifies; some states add their own renewal rules, named on each state's page.

Caregivers (personal care and home care aides) need a state credential in 9 states by their own rules (California, the District of Columbia, Maine, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Washington); elsewhere the employer sets the training. A home health aide at a Medicare-certified agency always needs the training above. Caregiver jobs by state.

2,912 home health aide jobs are open on this board today, 1,355 of them in the states that require certification, each read from the employer's own careers site. A state in the table opens its home health aide jobs.