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Home care staff requirements in Ohio

Ohio requires a state license from the Ohio Department of Health to provide skilled home health services or nonmedical home health services, which include personal care. Direct-care applicants must be screened against six state and federal databases and get a BCI fingerprint check, with an FBI check added for people who have not lived in Ohio for five years, and checks repeat every five years. The state license rules do not set aide training or TB rules, but agencies certified by the Ohio Department of Aging to provide personal care must meet set training, in-service and supervision rules.

Licenses

• Ohio has two home health licenses from the Ohio Department of Health: a skilled home health services license and a nonmedical home health services license (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-60-02; Ohio Rev. Code 3740.02).
• Nonmedical home health services include home health aide services and personal care services such as hands-on help with activities of daily living (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-60-01(R), (V)).
• An agency with a skilled license may also provide nonmedical services without a second license (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-60-03(C)).
• A license is valid for three years and renewal must be filed at least 90 days before it expires (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-60-03(H), (J)).

Background checks

• Before the criminal records check, the agency must check each direct-care applicant and employee against SAM.gov, the HHS OIG exclusion list, the Ohio DODD abuse registry, the Ohio sex offender database, the Ohio prison inmate database and the Ohio nurse aide registry (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-60-05(A)).
• If the applicant has not lived in Ohio for the past five years, the agency must also check the nurse aide registry of each state where the person lived (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-60-05(A)(6)).
• The agency must ask the Ohio BCI to run a fingerprint-based criminal records check on every applicant for a direct-care position (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-60-06(A), (F)).
• An FBI check is required when the applicant cannot show five years of Ohio residence or a recent FBI check (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-60-06(C)(1)).
• Direct-care employees must be rechecked within 30 days after the fifth anniversary of hire and at least every five years after that (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-60-06(B)).
• An applicant may work conditionally before results return only if the database checks are clean, fingerprints are taken before the first day, and the BCI check is requested within five business days of starting (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-60-07(A)).
• Conditional employment must end if BCI results do not come back within 60 days or if they show a disqualifying offense (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-60-07(D)).

Training and competency

• For agencies certified by the Ohio Department of Aging to provide personal care, each aide must qualify through an STNA program, Medicare home health aide standards, one year of supervised experience plus a competency evaluation, or a training and competency program of at least 30 hours on set topics (Ohio Adm. Code 173-39-02.11(C)(3)(a)).
• ODA-certified personal care providers must give each aide orientation on set topics, including incident reporting, emergency procedures and infection control, before the aide has in-person contact with a client (Ohio Adm. Code 173-39-02.11(C)(3)(b)).
• ODA-certified personal care aides must complete six hours of ODA-approved in-service training every 12 months, and agency orientation does not count toward the six hours (Ohio Adm. Code 173-39-02.11(C)(3)(d)).

Also in the personnel file

• Criminal records check reports must be kept confidential, sealed inside or apart from the personnel file (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-60-10(B)).
• Agencies must keep a roster showing each applicant or employee, the dates the BCI check was sent and received, whether it showed a disqualifying offense, and the start date (Ohio Adm. Code 3701-60-10(C)).
• For ODA-certified personal care, an RN or LPN supervisor must visit each client in person at the start of service and then at least every 60 days; if at least two visits a year are in person, the rest may be by phone or video (Ohio Adm. Code 173-39-02.11(C)(4)(b)).
• ODA-certified personal care providers must keep training certificates or records showing the school, course, dates and hours for each aide (Ohio Adm. Code 173-39-02.11(C)(3)(f)).

Common questions

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

Sources

• Ohio Adm. Code Chapter 3701-60, Home Health Agency Licensure and Criminal Records Checks (codes.ohio.gov)
• Ohio Rev. Code Chapter 3740, Home Health Agencies (codes.ohio.gov)
• Ohio Adm. Code 173-39-02.11, ODA provider certification: personal care (codes.ohio.gov)

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.

More for Ohio

Ohio background check laws · Ohio drug testing laws · Medicare home health aide rules · All states

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