CHAPTER 16.5. Community Health Workers [18998 - 18998.5]
( Chapter 16.5 added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 47, Sec. 144. )
For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) “Community-defined” means a set of practices that communities have used and found to yield positive results, as determined by community consensus over time. These practices may or may not have been measured empirically, but have reached a level of acceptance by the community.
(b) “Community health worker” means a liaison, link, or intermediary between health and social services and the community to facilitate access to services and to improve the access and cultural competence of service delivery. A community health worker is a frontline health worker either trusted by, or who has a close understanding of, the community
served. Community health workers include Promotores, Promotores de Salud, Community Health Representatives, navigators, and other nonlicensed health workers with the qualifications developed pursuant to this chapter, including violence prevention professionals. A community health worker’s lived experience shall align with and provide a connection to the community being served.
(c) “Core competencies” means the foundational and essential knowledge, skills, and abilities required for community health workers, which include all of the following:
(1) Communication skills.
(2) Interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
(3) Service coordination and navigation skills.
(4) Capacity building
skills.
(5) Advocacy skills.
(6) Education and facilitation skills.
(7) Individual and community assessment skills.
(8) Outreach skills.
(9) Professional skills and conduct.
(10) Evaluation and research skills.
(11) Knowledge base, including knowledge of basic public health principles, and social determinants of health and related disparities, of the community to be served.
(d) “Cultural competence” means a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system or agency
that enables that system or agency to work effectively in cross-cultural situations. A culturally competent system of care acknowledges and incorporates, at all levels, the importance of language and culture, intersecting identities, assessment of cross-cultural relations, knowledge and acceptance of dynamics of cultural differences, expansion of cultural knowledge, and adaptation of services to meet culturally unique needs to provide services in a culturally competent manner.
(e) “Department” means the Department of Health Care Access and Information.
(f) “Lived experience” means personal knowledge of a specific health condition or circumstance, which may include, but not be limited to, Alzheimer’s and other related dementia, climate impact on health, disability, foster system placement, homelessness, justice involved, LGBTQ+ status, mental health conditions, substance use,
military service, pregnancy, and birth. A community health worker may draw on their lived experience to assist other individuals with navigation to treatment and services. A community health worker with lived experience involving a behavioral health or other health condition may need additional training on how to appropriately use this lived experience to assist other individuals with their recovery from that condition.
(g) “Specialty certificate” means the next level of training that concentrates on specific program focus areas, with learning objectives and topics tailored to the skills required for distinct program and population needs.
(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 47, Sec. 144. (SB 184) Effective June 30, 2022.)
On or before July 1, 2023, the department shall do all of the following:
(a) Develop statewide requirements for community health worker certificate programs in consultation with stakeholders, including, but not limited to, the State Department of Health Care Services, the State Department of Public Health, community health workers, Promotores and Promotores de Salud, or representative organizations. In developing the requirements, the department shall do all of the following:
(1) Consult evidenced-based and community-defined materials.
(2) Determine necessary curriculum to meet certificate program objectives.
(3) Determine criteria for specialty certificate programs and specialized training requirements that build on the lived experience of community health workers.
(4) Determine a structure of statewide oversight that reduces barriers to training.
(5) Determine how past experience as a community health worker may provide a pathway to certification, and how to verify past experience.
(b) Approve statewide requirements for the development of certificate programs for community health workers.
(c) Approve the curriculum required for programs to certify community health workers.
(d) Review, approve, or renew evidence-based curricula and
community-defined curricula for core competencies, specialized programs, and training.
(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 47, Sec. 144. (SB 184) Effective June 30, 2022.)
(a) An organization may seek approval of a community health worker certificate program in accordance with this chapter and any standards approved by the department. In administering an approved community health worker certificate program, the organization shall oversee and enforce the requirements developed pursuant to this chapter.
(b) An organization that seeks approval or renewal of a community health worker certificate program shall do all of the following:
(1) Submit a community health worker certificate program plan describing how the community health worker certificate program meets the state requirements for the training and certificate of community health workers.
(2) Submit to periodic reviews to ensure adherence to state requirements.
(3) Submit annual community health worker certificate program reports on participant training and employment. The annual report shall include data determined by the department, in consultation with stakeholders, as needed, to ensure the certificate curriculum maintains community health worker diversity and addresses future workforce needs.
(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 47, Sec. 144. (SB 184) Effective June 30, 2022.)
(a) The department, in consultation with stakeholders, may request that an individual who is either enrolled in, or who has completed, a community health worker certificate program submit data consistent with Section 502 of the Business and Professions Code.
(b) The department’s identification and specification of the data is exempt until June 30, 2024, from the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
(c) The department shall determine the frequency and manner of data submission consistent with this section to ensure program needs are met.
(d) The department shall maintain the privacy of data provided consistent with all relevant federal and state laws.
(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 47, Sec. 144. (SB 184) Effective June 30, 2022.)
The department may contract with a vendor or vendors to implement this chapter.
(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 47, Sec. 144. (SB 184) Effective June 30, 2022.)
Except as provided in Section 18998.3, and notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the department may implement, interpret, or make specific this chapter by means of policy letters, provider bulletins, or other similar instructions, without taking regulatory action. The department shall consult with affected stakeholders before acting pursuant to this section.
(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 47, Sec. 144. (SB 184) Effective June 30, 2022.)