Introduction

Welcome, and congratulations on your decision to take the professional Home Health Aide test. This handbook is designed for candidates who want to be listed on the District of Columbia Home Health Aide Program. It tells you how to apply for and take the Home Health Aide program. This handbook will answer many of your questions about the test. Please take the time to read it and keep it so you can refer to it whenever you have a question about the test.

The Home Health Aide Program (HHA) 

The District of Columbia Home Health Aide certification by examination was established July 2012 with the final publication of the Home Health Aide Regulations. The regulations were derived from the revised Health Occupations Revisions Act of 2009, which place Nursing Assistive Personnel (NAP) under the authority of the Board of Nursing. Together with the District of Columbia Department of Health/Board of Nursing, Credentia has developed a testing program called the HHA Program. This program provides an assessment of home health aide knowledge and skills and is designed to determine competency of the home health aide in the District of Columbia. The examination for the HHA Program consists of the HHA Written Examination together with the Skills Evaluation.

About Credentia

This handbook was created by Credentia in partnership with the HHA Department of Health. Credentia is a nationally recognized provider of testing services to develop, score, and report the results of the HHA Nurse Aide Registry test. Credentia also processes applications, schedules examinations, and administers the tests.

Criminal Background Check

To be certified as a Home Health Aide in the District of Columbia, you must complete a criminal background check (fingerprinting). Background checks are provided by the vendor for DC Health, Field Print. After passing the home health aide exam, visit https://doh.force.com/ dchealthrenewals/s/portal to complete application and pay for criminal background check (CBC). You will receive a code on your receipt for payment to be used to schedule your appointment. You will also receive instructions on how to schedule your fingerprint scan.