Home and Community Services filed a CR 103E (emergency rule) under WSR 23-06-023 amending long-term care worker Continuing Education (CE) deadlines established in WACs 388-71-0992 and 388-112A-0613: When must continuing education be completed when public health emergency waivers are lifted, and what continuing education credit is granted to long-term care workers employed during the pandemic?

The department recognizes that long-term care workers may not have completed training hours in excess of the 12 hours of CE granted during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The emergency rule extends the deadline for completing CEs. This includes:

• Extending the deadline for CE that came due while training waivers were in place to August 31, 2023; and
• Extending the CE requirements that would be due between (and including) October 28,
  2022, and August 31, 2023, to August 31, 2023.

Summary:
The emergency rule sets a deadline of August 31, 2023, for long-term care workers to complete the CE that came due during the waivers (outside of the 12 hours of On-the-Job training) AND gives long-term care workers until August 31, 2023, to complete CE that otherwise would be due between (and including) October 28, 2022, and August 31, 2023.