You asked what the training requirements are for staff in RCHs.

State regulations contain no training requirements for RCH attendants, only that the homes have “sufficient capable personnel of good character and suitable temperment…” and that there be one attendant for every 25 residents available 24 hours a day. While the regulations do not address training, Dick Edmonds, director of the Department of Public Health's (DPH) Division of Community-Based Regulation, reports that RCH staff must have some training in the following areas:

In addition, each RCH must have one qualified food service operator when meals are served, and the cooks must be trained in special dietary restrictions.

DPH must inspect each RCH at least once every two years, and must during these inspections examine staff records to determine if these minimal training standards have been met. If a home is having problems, Edmonds adds, DPH may ask that staff acquire additional skills training.

Marge Anderson of the Connecticut Association of Residential Care Homes adds that 70 of the state's 113 RCHs are members of her organization. The association offers a 40-credit administrator certification program that it strongly urges its members to take. Many member homes have had staff (including attendants) enroll in these courses. (Certification is good for three years and can be renewed only if an additional 48 hours of continuing education are completed over the next three years.) Anderson likened the care RCH attendants provide to that which a family member would provide to an elderly parent. Care often consists of assistance with dressing and undressing, help with meal preparation and clean-up, and organizing recreational activities, but it could include many other activities. She also remarked that while their services are not reimbursable expenses under Medicaid or Medicare, many RCHs will hire nurses, where appropriate.

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