New York home health aide in-service rules

New York home health aide in-service requirements are 12 hours a year for home health aides (HHAs) and 6 for personal care aides (PCAs), taken as 3 hours every six months. Online in-service counts if an RN supervises, aides can ask questions and the RN validates learning. LMS Advisor is our top pick for RN-led in-service: post-tests, RN-approved assignments, phone sign-in, translations and six-year retention settings.

This guide is for administrators, directors of patient services and staff development coordinators at New York LHCSAs and CHHAs, plus operators of DOH-approved aide training programs. It covers the hours and what counts, when online in-service is acceptable, the records DOH expects, how New York differs from the federal rule and how to set the year up in an LMS. LMS Advisor is our platform, so we also say where it stops.

What are New York's in-service requirements for home health aides and PCAs?

The base rule sits in 10 NYCRR 766.11, the home care personnel standard: "home health aides must participate in 12 hours of in-service education per year" and "personal care aides must participate in six hours of in-service education per year." The same subsection sets 18 hours a year for advanced home health aides, which must include medication management, infection control and injection safety and be directly supervised by an RN. Twelve HHA hours is also the federal floor for Medicare-certified agencies.

Aide role	In-service hours	Cadence	Source
Home health aide (HHA)	12 hours	Per year (calendar or anniversary)	10 NYCRR 766.11, DAL 17-01
Personal care aide (PCA)	6 hours	3 hours each half year	18 NYCRR 505.14(e)(2)(ii), DAL 21-09
Advanced home health aide	18 hours	Per year	10 NYCRR 766.11

PCAs: 3 hours every six months

DOH's DAL DHCBS 21-09 on PCA in-service ties it to 18 NYCRR 505.14(e)(2)(ii), which calls for "3-hours of in-service education on a semiannual basis." An aide who does all 6 hours in November has the annual total but missed the first half. Build PCA in-service as two 3-hour blocks with separate due dates.

Calendar year or employment anniversary

DAL DHCBS 17-01 on HHA and PCA in-service (May 9, 2017) lets agencies "fulfill the annual in-service requirements (6 hours or 12 hours as applicable) on either a calendar year basis or employment anniversary basis." Pick one and write it into policy. Anniversary spreads the RN's workload but gives every aide a different deadline, which is where spreadsheets usually break.

Orientation does not count

DAL 17-01 is explicit: "Training conducted for purposes of orienting new aides does not count toward meeting the annual 6 or 12-hour aide in-service requirement." The same letter allows the patient's home as a training setting "when the aide is furnishing care to the patient."

Can home health aide in-service be online in New York?

Yes. DAL 17-01 lists allowed modalities as "presentation, lecture, demonstration, videotape, webinar, and online trainings," and DAL 21-09 (July 23, 2021) reminds employers that "in-services for PCAs and HHAs can be conducted remotely or through other off-site methods such as online education." DAL 21-09 does not frame remote in-service as emergency-only, and its COVID-era enforcement discretion has expired (December 31, 2021 for PCAs, and for HHAs the first full quarter after the federal public health emergency ended). Online in-service is a standing option, with conditions: DAL 21-09 says all in-service "must be done under the supervision of an RN with an opportunity for questions to be answered and must be accompanied by validation that learning occurred."

DOH's three conditions: RN supervision, questions, validation

Whatever the modality, DAL 17-01 says in-service must "be pertinent to the aide's responsibilities" and must:

"ensure sufficient RN supervision"
"include an opportunity for questions and answers"
"include an evaluation by the RN that validates that learning took place"

For online training it adds: "A mechanism for aides to ask questions about the content must be readily available." A video library with a completion checkbox meets none of these. Here is how each maps to something you can show a surveyor.

DOH condition	What a surveyor can look for	How LMS Advisor supports it
Sufficient RN supervision	A named RN responsible for each in-service course	RN set as course instructor, reviewing results and assignments
Questions and answers	A way to reach the RN about the content, and evidence it was used	Discussion forum the RN monitors, plus scheduled Zoom or Google Meet Q&A sessions added to the course as live lessons
RN validation of learning	A post-test, and RN sign-off	Quiz as the post-test, and an assignment the RN approves (AI-assisted rubric suggests, the RN decides)
Real hours, not click-through	Stated length that matches the content	Lesson minimum time, required blocks and interactive video with timestamped questions

What "a mechanism to ask questions" looks like in practice

Software alone cannot meet this one, because a person has to answer. A workable setup: a discussion forum for in-service questions that a named RN checks on a set schedule, at least one live Q&A session per period, and the RN's phone number or email printed in the course. LMS Advisor's AI Tutor can help an aide review a lesson, but it is not an RN, and we would not present it to DOH as the question mechanism.

What still has to happen in person

Online in-service does not replace the annual performance assessment in 10 NYCRR 766.11(k), which includes "at least one in-home visit to observe performance, if applicable." Medicare-certified agencies also owe an annual on-site visit by an RN or other appropriate skilled professional under 42 CFR 484.80(h). Skills your RN wants to watch, such as transfers or hand hygiene, belong in an in-person session with attendance recorded.

What LHCSA training records does DOH expect in each aide's file?

DAL 17-01 lists what an in-service record should hold:

Date
Length of training
Training location
Training content, objectives and goals
Training materials used
Post-test
Attendance list
Proof of completion
RN supervisory oversight and sign-off

DAL 21-09 adds that "regardless of the method selected," the agency must document completion "in each aide's personnel file."

Keeping records for six years

DAL 17-01 says in-service files "should be retained for at least six years." Six years can outlast a software contract, so before you sign, ask how you get six years of completions out when you leave. Our training records retention requirements table compares this with other US rules.

Exports for the personnel file

In LMS Advisor the course holds content, objectives and materials, the quiz holds the post-test, certificates prove completion, sessions carry manual or QR attendance and the RN's assignment approval records sign-off. Reports export to CSV, Excel or PDF for the aide's file, and audit logs record admin changes.

How is New York different from the federal home health aide rule?

A Medicare-certified CHHA answers to both 42 CFR 484.80 (eCFR text current as of September 23, 2026) and the New York rules. An LHCSA answers to New York.

Requirement	Federal (42 CFR 484.80, Medicare-certified agencies)	New York (10 NYCRR 766.11, DALs 17-01 and 21-09)
HHA in-service hours	At least 12 hours in each 12-month period	12 hours per year
PCA in-service hours	Not covered	6 hours per year, 3 hours semiannually
Year basis	12-month period	Calendar year or employment anniversary, agency's choice
Online delivery	No online-specific conditions in 484.80(d)	Allowed with RN supervision, a readily available question mechanism and RN validation
RN role	In-service supervised by an RN	RN supervision, RN evaluation of learning and RN sign-off in the record
Records	Documentation that requirements were met	Nine-item record list, kept at least six years
Annual observation	Annual on-site visit by an RN or other skilled professional	Annual assessment including at least one in-home visit, if applicable
Registry	None in 484.80	Home Care Registry check before work starts, entry within 10 business days

What about the 75-hour HHA and 40-hour PCA training programs?

Initial training is separate from in-service. Per the DOH Home Health Aide Training Program FAQ, HHA training is 75 hours ("59 hours classroom and 16 hours of supervised practical training") completed within 60 days, with at least half of each trainee's supervised practical training in a patient care setting. The PCA Home Care Curriculum is 40 hours, all classroom. Programs are approved by DOH or the State Education Department (not both) and keep program records for six years.

Hybrid classes: live online only, no self-paced modules

DAL DHCBS 20-09 on hybrid training approval (September 29, 2020) lets approved programs apply to teach didactic content online. "Hybrid Training consists of live, online classes, supplemented with training videos and pre-recorded content," and it "cannot consist of self-learning modules." Recorded content must be followed by live online discussion, and programs must describe how trainee identity is verified and how attendance is documented. The competency demonstrations (the PCA Alternative Competency Demonstration and the HHA Competency Demonstration), skills assessments and supervised practical training stay in person.

Status note: DAL 20-09 was issued "in response to the COVID-19 crisis." As of September 2026 it is still posted on DOH's list of home care DALs, it contains no expiry date, and we found no later letter rescinding it. Treat it as current, but confirm with DOH's training program staff before you build an approved curriculum around it.

With hybrid approval, LMS Advisor can schedule the live Zoom or Google Meet classes and take attendance. Whether your identity and attendance method satisfies DOH is settled in your approval, not by software.

Home Care Registry and certificates

The Home Care Registry generates certificates for aides trained after September 25, 2009. Under 10 NYCRR 403.5 on Registry duties, providers must check a worker's registry information before the worker starts and, "within 10 business days after the worker has been employed," enter the required information. That work happens in the Registry, not in your LMS.

Are CDPAP personal assistants covered by agency in-service?

No. In the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, the consumer or their designee handles "recruiting, hiring, training, supervising and terminating caregivers." Ahead of the April 1, 2025 move to a single statewide fiscal intermediary, Public Partnerships LLC, DOH also told LHCSAs and fiscal intermediaries to stop charging potential personal care workers a fee "for the minimum 40-hour training and assessment."

What to look for in home care training software for New York

Home care aides rarely come into the office, often have no work email and speak many languages. Judge a platform on these points:

Separate HHA and PCA tracks. Different hours and cadences, assigned by group with their own due dates.
A real post-test on every online in-service, plus a way for the RN to sign off.
A visible question channel: forum and live sessions the RN runs.
Controls against click-through, so a 1-hour course takes an hour.
Phone sign-in without email, plus translations for the languages your aides speak.
In-person attendance in the same record as online completions.
Six-year retention and exports you control, with office-level views for each branch coordinator.

Our healthcare LMS overview covers care providers more broadly, and our compliance training LMS comparison judges platforms on audit evidence.

Home care training software for New York agencies compared

Shortlists split into content libraries with tracking attached, and platforms you configure with your own content. Competitor facts are from each vendor's public pages as of September 2026.

Platform	Best for	Aide course library	New York specifics	Languages and other notes
LMS Advisor (our platform, top pick)	Best overall for agencies that want to run and prove their own RN-led in-service	None. Import SCORM or build courses	You configure HHA and PCA tracks, post-tests, RN sign-off and six-year retention	Course and lesson translations, SMS or WhatsApp code sign-in, iOS and Android apps
Activated Insights (CareAcademy)	Best for ready-made aide CE plus nurse CE	"Dozens of class options"	PCA and HHA initial and CE offerings, with curriculum enhancements	Mentions a Spanish translated experience
Learn2Care	Best for a large off-the-shelf caregiver catalog	"400+ Online Courses", "750+ Training Videos"	NY page lists 6 hours for PCAs and 12 for HHAs, with suggested courses	Free 7-day trial offered
Relias (Home-Based Care)	Best for multilingual foundational caregiver content	Foundational caregiver courses	Not reviewed	English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, Filipino, Russian and Chinese

LMS Advisor: best overall for running your own in-service

We rank it first because New York's rules are about process more than content: RN supervision, questions, validation and records. Post-tests, RN-approved assignments, the forum, live sessions with attendance, overdue reports by office and retention settings cover that process, in our cloud or on your server. The trade-off is that you bring the content.

Activated Insights: best for ready-made New York programs

Activated Insights acquired CareAcademy, and its New York compliance page lists PCA and HHA initial and CE offerings with curriculum enhancements. It notes that "the standardized state curriculum must be offered without modification" but that "NY has recently allowed enhancement for virtual and distance learning as a result of the pandemic." It also offers "Wild Iris ANCC accredited nurse CE" for New York nurses.

Learn2Care: best for catalog size

Its New York requirements page recommends courses such as infection control and dementia care and promotes "audit-ready caregiver records." Choose it for a library with little course building.

Relias: best for multilingual content at scale

The Relias home-based care page lists foundational caregiver courses in six languages and shows home care brands such as BrightStar Care and Senior Helpers among its customers and industry partners.

How to set up a New York in-service year in LMS Advisor

Decide the year basis. Calendar year or employment anniversary, written into policy.
Build the HHA set. Courses totaling at least 12 hours, with hours stated on each course and certificate (the transcript also totals CPD hours against a yearly target).
Build the PCA set. Two 3-hour blocks, one per half year, each its own course and assignment.
Add validation. A post-test quiz on every online in-service, and an assignment the RN reviews where you want written sign-off.
Open the question channel. Point aides to the discussion forum, name the RN who monitors it and schedule live Q&A in Zoom or Google Meet.
Stop click-through. Set lesson minimum times and required blocks, and use interactive video questions on long videos.
Get aides in. Turn on SMS or WhatsApp code sign-in, have aides install the iOS or Android app and add translations.
Assign by group and office. HHA and PCA groups, one branch per office, due dates and the mandatory flag. Overdue reports show each office its gaps.
Set certificate validity. Twelve months gives a 30-day expiring-soon status and certificate-expiring emails. Validity counts from completion, not hire date, so anniversary agencies also set due dates by hire month.
Record in-person sessions. Use manual or QR check-in for skills demonstrations.
Set retention and exports. At least six years, with regular exports to personnel files.

To see this built for a two-office agency with HHAs and PCAs, request a demo. Feature detail is on the assessments and quizzes, virtual classroom, mobile app and certificates and compliance pages.

A 30/60/90 day rollout plan for a home care agency

Days 1 to 30. Write the year-basis policy. Decide what content you build, import or license. Load aides by office and group, and test phone sign-in with a few aides in each language.

Days 31 to 60. Publish the first HHA courses and the first PCA 3-hour block with post-tests. Name the monitoring RN and run the first live Q&A. Hold one in-person session with QR attendance.

Days 61 to 90. Export five aides' records and compare them line by line with the DAL 17-01 list. Fix gaps before a surveyor finds them, then retire the spreadsheet. The RN's in-home evaluations and Registry updates stay in your existing process.

Where LMS Advisor is not the right fit

It is not a DOH-approved training program or curriculum. It does not make a course compliant. Your RN supervision and content do.
No Home Care Registry connection. It does not submit to or check the Registry, and it does not do EVV or scheduling.
No aide course library. Build courses or import SCORM. Agencies that want a finished catalog should look at a library vendor.
No accredited CE tracking. Each aide's transcript totals CPD hours against a yearly target, but that is not a regulator's ledger. It is not an approved provider of the four-yearly infection control coursework New York requires of RNs and LPNs.
Post-tests need a connection. Aides can save video, audio and document lessons in the app for a client's home with no signal, but quizzes, SCORM packages and live Q&A sessions do not work offline.
It does not replace the RN. Not for the in-home evaluation, supervised practical training or answering aides' questions.

Frequently asked questions

How many in-service hours does a home health aide need in New York?

A home health aide needs 12 hours of in-service education per year under 10 NYCRR 766.11. Advanced home health aides need 18 hours.

How many in-service hours does a personal care aide need in New York?

A personal care aide needs 6 hours a year, delivered as 3 hours every six months under 18 NYCRR 505.14(e)(2)(ii). Doing all 6 hours in one half of the year misses the semiannual requirement.

Can home health aide in-service be completed online in New York?

Yes, if an RN supervises it, aides have a readily available way to ask questions and the RN validates learning, usually with a post-test. DAL 17-01 and DAL 21-09 both allow online in-service.

Is in-service tracked by calendar year or hire anniversary in New York?

Either, at the agency's choice, under DAL 17-01. Choose one, put it in policy and apply it to every aide.

How long must New York agencies keep aide training records?

At least six years for in-service files, per DAL 17-01. Approved HHA and PCA training programs also keep program records for six years.

Does orientation count toward in-service hours in New York?

No. DAL 17-01 says training to orient new aides does not count toward the annual 6 or 12-hour requirement. Keep orientation in its own course so it never inflates the in-service total.

What is the best home care training software for New York agencies?

LMS Advisor is our pick for agencies that run their own RN-led in-service, because it covers post-tests, RN sign-off, question forums, live sessions, phone sign-in, translations and six-year retention. For a ready-made aide catalog, look at Learn2Care or Activated Insights.

New York's rules reward agencies that can show their work: who taught it, how long it took, how learning was checked and where the RN signed. If you are comparing platforms for that, book a demo. For how nursing homes handle a similar problem, see our guide to nursing home staff training software.