Connecticut Homemaker-Companion Agencies Face New Employee Training Requirements in 2027

Connecticut has released implementation guidance for mandatory employee training requirements that begin January 1, 2027. Homemaker-Companion Agencies should review their hiring, onboarding, personnel records, and ongoing education processes now.

The requirements stem from Public Act 26-50, enacted during the 2026 legislative session. On September 30, 2026, the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) published training guidance, approved course resources, and completion forms to help agencies prepare.

What changes January 1, 2027?

Agencies must provide covered new employees with at least eight hours of paid initial training within 90 days of the employee’s start date. The training must address:

• Keeping the environment clean and safe, including best practices for dressing, bathing, and toileting assistance.
• Recognizing and reporting abuse and neglect.
• Recognizing and reporting changes in a client’s condition and service needs.

New employees who will serve individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia must also receive training in providing nonmedical services to those individuals. Training content does not expand an agency’s permitted nonmedical service scope.

Prior training may count

A new hire who completed qualifying initial training with another Homemaker-Companion Agency during the three years before hire can satisfy the initial requirement by furnishing the prescribed completion form. The hiring agency must keep a copy in the employee’s personnel file.

Add this verification to your hiring review: confirm the completion date and supporting form rather than relying only on an employee’s statement that training was completed.

Continuing education is also required

Section 1(a)(1)(B) of the act requires at least eight paid hours of annual continuing education using programs from the DCP-approved list. Section 1(b) separately requires agencies to ensure each employee completes every program on that list at least once every two calendar years.

DCP’s implementation pages currently describe paid annual continuing education alongside a two-calendar-year completion cycle. Agencies should track annual hours and program coverage separately and seek DCP clarification when planning a schedule; the two-year cycle should not be treated as permission to skip annual education.

The approved subject areas include:

• Communication.
• Clean and safe care practices.
• Abuse and neglect identification and reporting.
• Changes in client condition or service needs.
• The distinction between medical and nonmedical care.
• Nonmedical services for people with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
• Other topics approved by DCP in consultation with the designated state agencies.

Documentation matters

After required training, the agency and employee must complete the DCP-prescribed form identifying the agency and employee, the programs completed, completion dates, and both signatures. Retain the completed record and give the employee a copy.

Agencies must also submit their first compliance attestation to DCP no later than January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter. This agency attestation is separate from an employee’s training-completion form.

Assign responsibility for maintaining training records, checking missing signatures, tracking deadlines, and monitoring the DCP submission process.

Some workers are exempt

Section 1(a)(3) excludes specified workers from the subsection’s initial and annual training provisions: registered nurse’s aides, home health aides meeting the act’s definition, personal care attendants as defined by Connecticut law, and agency employees who do not provide homemaker or companion services.

The home health aide definition refers to a person providing home health aide services as an employee of a home health aide agency. A job title alone does not establish an exemption. Review the employee’s actual role and statutory qualifications before applying one.

DCP’s training resources are still developing

As of October 5, 2026, DCP’s initial course list still marks material on recognizing and reporting changes in client condition and service needs as coming soon. Its continuing-education list also identifies forthcoming material on distinguishing medical from nonmedical care.

Use the current DCP lists when selecting courses and check for updates as implementation approaches. A saved course list may no longer reflect all available or approved resources.

What Connecticut agencies should do now

• Review new-hire orientation, paid training schedules, and the 90-day deadline.
• Verify and retain qualifying prior-training forms.
• Identify employees needing dementia-specific initial training.
• Track annual education hours and the approved-program completion cycle.
• Use DCP completion forms and maintain supporting personnel records.
• Prepare for the January 1 agency attestation and annual submissions.
• Monitor DCP course lists and implementation instructions.

Written personnel policies should distinguish state-required training, agency orientation, and role-specific competencies. Set out who schedules training, verifies completion, stores the evidence, and follows up when a requirement is outstanding.

Why this matters

The mandate adds a measurable personnel-compliance obligation. Agencies need to demonstrate what employees completed, when they completed it, how it satisfies the applicable requirement, and where the supporting documentation is retained.

Regulations establish the requirement. Your policies should establish how your agency will meet it.