Direct Care Workers
Direct care workers provide basic personal care and home care to individuals with disabilities in their homes. This website offers training for Homemakers and Personal Care Attendants (PCA), two types of direct care workers.
You can be hired as a direct care worker by:
- A home care agency
- A consumer-employer (individual with a disability)
The Differences Between Being Hired for a Home Care Agency and a Consumer-Employer
Links and PDFs will open in a new window.
Question | DCW hired by a consumer-employer | Home Care Agency |
What are some direct care workers job titles? | Personal Care Attendant (PCA) | Home Health Aide (HHA) and Personal Care Homemaker, to name a few |
Who gives the direct care worker their list of tasks to perform? | Consumer-employer (the person with the disability) | Registered nurse |
Direct Care Worker Training
Both Homemakers and PCAs are required to complete new hire orientation training after they are hired.
Question | PCAs | Homemakers |
Is training required before getting hired? | No, training is recommended. | State-approved training is required. |
Can I start the training right now? | Yes, start the Fundamentals of Home Care training here. To access this training, you will be asked to create an account. | Yes, start the Personal and Home Care Aide State Training here. To access this training, you will be asked to create an account. |
How long is the training? | This training should take about six (6) hours to complete. | This training should take about 37 hours to complete. |
Last modified: Wednesday, February 8, 2023, 4:06 PM