Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision Room 974 EBA Albany, NY 12234 www.highered.nysed.gov/bpss

June 23, 2006 

To: All Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision (BPSS)-Regulated Schools with Home Health Aide Programs

On June 2, 2006, the Department of Health released its new Home Health Aide curriculum.  All Home Health Aides and Personal Care Aides graduating after October 1, 2006, whether trained in agencies regulated by the Department of Health or proprietary schools regulated by BPSS, must be tested according to material covered in the new curriculum.

For more details, see http://www.health.state.ny.us/professionals/home_care/index.htm

This notice, sent also by email to BPSS-supervised schools with approved Home Health Aide and Personal Care Aide training programs, formally notifies those schools of the process for approval.  A letter must be submitted on letterhead and signed by the school director, advising that the revised curriculum has been implemented for classes whose students graduate after October 1, 2006. Upon reapproval, the new curriculum must be used in the Breakdown of Theory/Skill (item 18), and the Content Outline (21a).

Please note that Department of Health-regulated programs, which are small facility-based training programs for employees, allow students to demonstrate some skills for the first time during the supervised internship.  They may therefore use the minimum 75 hours set by the Department of Health.   Students in BPSS-regulated schools, however, must demonstrate all skills once in class before beginning the 8-hour supervised internship.  Therefore, BPSS-approved curricula remain at 83 or 84 hours, depending on how the 1 hour needed to cover Universal Precautions and Other State-Mandated Topics is incorporated into the program.

As a reminder, per DOH regulations, the supervised internship can only be done through a licensed home care agency or in a hospital. The internship cannot be done in a nursing home.

For more information, send an email to treimer2@mail.nysed.gov or call (518) 474-3969. 

Sincerely,

Thomas Reimer, PhD
Curriculum Unit