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Home care staff requirements in Georgia

Georgia licenses private home care providers, which can offer nursing, personal care and companion or sitter services, and licenses home health agencies separately, both through the Department of Community Health. Before a fingerprint-based state and FBI check, agencies must check each worker against the nurse aide registry, the sex offender registry and the federal OIG exclusion list, and a worker can have supervised client contact for only 30 days while the check is pending. Personal care assistants need a recognized credential or a 40-hour agency training program, all staff need 8 hours of training a year after their first year, and TB screening is required at hire and every year.

Licenses

• A private home care provider may not operate without a license or provisional license from the Department of Community Health (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.05).
• Private home care providers may offer three kinds of services: nursing services, personal care tasks, and companion or sitter tasks (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.10).
• Each private home care office location must be licensed separately (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.05).
• Home health agencies are licensed separately under O.C.G.A. § 31-7-151 and are also covered by the state background check rules (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.03).

Background checks

• Before the criminal background check, the agency must do a registry check of each employee covering the state nurse aide registry, the state sex offender registry, and the federal OIG List of Excluded Individuals and Entities (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.03; Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.04).
• If the person has lived in Georgia less than two years, the agency must run registry checks for each state they lived in during the past two years (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.04).
• Each direct access employee must submit a fingerprint records check application, which covers Georgia Crime Information Center and FBI records, when applying or before being placed in the job (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.05; Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.03).
• Proof of a satisfactory determination from the past 12 months can sometimes be used instead of a new application (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.05).
• While the check is pending, a worker may have direct access to clients for no more than 30 days and only under direct supervision of a staff member with a satisfactory determination (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.06).
• A person may not work if they appear on a registry check, have a substantiated finding of neglect, abuse or misappropriation, or receive an unsatisfactory determination (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.06).
• Licensed health care providers such as nurses are not employees for the fingerprint rule, but the agency must confirm their license is in good standing before the check (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.03; Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.04).
• Job application forms must say that state law requires a national and state background check for this type of job (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.06).
• Private home care staff must give a statement at application that they have never been shown to have abused, neglected or exploited anyone (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.09).

Training and competency

• A personal care assistant must have completed nurse aide training under federal rules, a recognized nurse aide competency exam, an approved credentialing program, or a 40-hour training program run by a private home care provider (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.09).
• The 40-hour program must cover topics including transfers, bathing and grooming, basic first aid and CPR, infection control, vital signs and nutrition, and must be run under a registered nurse or similar professional (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.09).
• Twenty hours of the 40-hour program must be done before serving clients and the other twenty within six months (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.09).
• Companions and sitters must complete training or show competency in areas such as needs of elderly or disabled people, meal preparation, home safety, medical emergencies and infection control (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.09).
• All staff must be oriented before working with clients, including policies, duties, reporting problems, and their duty to report exposure to TB or hepatitis (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.09).
• After the first year, each employee must get at least eight clock hours of job-related training every year (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.09).
• Each staff member must be evaluated in writing by a supervisor at least yearly, by direct observation or demonstration of their job tasks (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.10).
• Home health agency aides must be trained in at least the areas listed in the home health rule, such as nutrition, the aging process and reporting changes in condition (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-31-.08).

Health screening

• Private home care personnel files must show a satisfactory TB screening test at hire and every year after (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.09).
• A supervisor may not let an employee exposed to or diagnosed with TB or hepatitis serve clients until it is found they are not contagious (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.10).
• Home health agency personnel records must include health examinations (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-31-.07).

Also in the personnel file

• Private home care personnel files must include contact and emergency contact information, a five-year work history, qualifications, hire date, job description, orientation and training records, a yearly evaluation, and bonding proof for staff with unlimited access to client funds (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.09).
• Each personnel file must include proof of the employee's satisfactory background determination, registry check, and license check if needed (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.06).
• A supervisor must make a home visit to each personal care client at least every 92 days (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.10).
• A supervisor must make a home visit to each companion or sitter client at least every 122 days, or sooner after a serious complaint (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.10).
• At home health agencies, a registered nurse or other professional must make a supervisory visit to the patient's home at least every two weeks (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-31-.08).

Common questions

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

Sources

• Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.05 Licenses (Private Home Care Providers), Cornell LII
• Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.09 Administration and Organization, Cornell LII
• Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.10 Private Home Care Provider Services, Cornell LII
• Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.03 Definitions (Criminal Background Checks), Cornell LII
• Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.04 Registry and Professional Licensing Board Checks, Cornell LII
• Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.05 Records Check Application, Cornell LII
• Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-12-.06 Employment Prohibition; Grace Period; Personnel Files; Notice, Cornell LII
• Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-31-.07 Administrative Standards (Home Health Agencies), Cornell LII
• Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-31-.08 Scope of Services (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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