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Home care staff requirements in Florida

Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration licenses home health agencies and nurse registries, and companion and homemaker businesses that give no home health services must register instead of getting a license. Workers who give personal care or have access to clients' homes or money need Level 2 fingerprint screening (state and FBI) before client contact, and must be rescreened every five years. Home health aides need 40 hours of training or a passing score on the state competency test, yearly in-service training and current CPR, and all of these provider types must give staff state dementia training.

Licenses

• A license or registration from the Agency for Health Care Administration is required to operate a home health agency (F.S. 400.464).
• A nurse registry does not need a home health agency license but must be licensed as a nurse registry (F.S. 400.506).
• Businesses that provide only companion or homemaker services and no home health services are exempt from licensure but must register with the Agency for Health Care Administration (F.S. 400.509).
• Nurse registries may refer nurses, certified nursing assistants, trained home health aides, and companions or homemakers for contract work in private homes (F.S. 400.506).

Background checks

• Home health agencies, nurse registries, and companion and homemaker services must require Level 2 background screening for employees and contractors (F.S. 400.512; F.S. 408.809).
• Level 2 screening includes fingerprinting for a statewide check through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and a national FBI check (F.S. 435.04).
• Screening is required for anyone expected to give personal care or services directly to clients or to have access to client funds, property or living areas (F.S. 408.809).
• An employer may not let the employee have contact with vulnerable persons until screening is complete and shows no disqualifying grounds, unless the state grants an exemption (F.S. 435.06).
• Screened workers must be rescreened every five years to keep the job (F.S. 408.809).
• Florida adds disqualifying offenses beyond the standard Level 2 list, such as Medicaid fraud, domestic violence, patient brokering and forgery (F.S. 408.809).
• Registered companion and homemaker businesses must get and verify the work history of anyone who will have contact with clients in their homes (F.S. 400.509).

Training and competency

• Before a home health aide provides services, the home health agency must have proof of at least 40 hours of training in listed subjects or a passing score on the state Home Health Aide Competency Test (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-8.0095).
• Home health aide training must be given by or under a registered nurse with at least two years of nursing experience, one of them in home health (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-8.0095).
• Home health aides and CNAs who help with self-administered medication need at least 2 hours of training on it first (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-8.0095).
• Before a CNA provides services, the agency must have proof of current Florida CNA certification (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-8.0095).
• Home health aides and CNAs must get in-service training every calendar year (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-8.0095).
• New employees of home health agencies, nurse registries and companion or homemaker services must get basic written information on dementia when they start, and those giving personal care or with regular client contact must take a 1-hour state dementia course within 30 days (F.S. 430.5025; F.S. 400.4785).
• At home health agencies, nurse registries and companion or homemaker services, employees who give personal care must take 2 more hours of dementia training within 7 months of hire (F.S. 430.5025).

Also in the personnel file

• Home health aides and CNAs must keep current CPR certification from an approved provider such as the American Red Cross or American Heart Association (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-8.0095).
• A registered nurse must provide on-site supervision of aides and CNAs as needed based on the patient's condition and the aide's training, and document supervisory visits in patient files (Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-8.0095).
• Employers must keep a record of each employee's dementia training completion (F.S. 430.5025).

Common questions

Some rules for Florida weren't confirmed from an official source. Check with the state before relying on this page.

Sources

• Fla. Stat. 400.464 Home health agencies to be licensed
• Fla. Stat. 400.506 Licensure of nurse registries
• Fla. Stat. 400.509 Registration of companion and homemaker service providers
• Fla. Stat. 400.512 Screening of home health agency, nurse registry, companion and homemaker personnel
• Fla. Stat. 400.4785 Alzheimer's training requirements for home health agencies
• Fla. Stat. 408.809 Background screening; prohibited offenses
• Fla. Stat. 430.5025 Alzheimer's disease and dementia education and training
• Fla. Stat. 435.04 Level 2 screening standards
• Fla. Stat. 435.06 Exclusion from employment
• Fla. Admin. Code R. 59A-8.0095 Personnel (Home Health Agencies), Cornell LII

This page summarizes state licensing rules in plain words, with links to the rules themselves. It is not legal advice, rules change, and your license type decides what applies: check the linked source and your licensing agency. Medicare-certified home health agencies also follow 42 CFR 484.80. Checked October 2026.

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