California Home Health Aide Programs

New graduates celebrate with their families at their nursing commencement ceremony.

How to Become a Home Health Aide in California and Home Health Aide Programs in California

There are many people out there wondering how to become a home health aide in California and thinking about attending home health aide programs in California. California has some of the best opportunities for home health aides in the nation and will exceed the astonishing national average growth of the occupation -- pegged at 70% for the decade ending 2020. Median compensation in California also ranks higher than the rest of the United States, with the average home health aide receiving over a dollar more per hour than his or her counterparts in other states. Things are certainly looking up!

That said, California home health aides must meet rigorous standards that are unlike any throughout the rest of the nation. Most other states do not require any particular set of formal skills and training before one seeks a career as a home health aide. These aides are expected to help elderly patients with basic needs, ensure that medication is taken, and assist during common, day-to-day tasks. The clients that most home health aides work with are physically or mentally impaired in some way and require help with some necessary function of daily life, which the aide is retained to provide.

The California Department of Public Health issues standards for home health aides that far exceed the norm throughout the rest of the country. Home health aides must ensure that they take a course covering basic medical skills, ethics and other areas that is approved by CDPA. CDPA offers online information allowing you to verify the status of a program before you enroll. Programs are typically short, with most taking much less than one year, but tend to be more intensive than programs you might encounter elsewhere. Many home health aides in California choose to expand their professional opportunities by following other certification options laid out by CDPA.

A home health aide may choose to remain a generalist or may pursue training as a Certified Nurse's Assistant or Certified Hemodialysis Technician. Certification in these areas leads to compliance with California state standards for agencies that employ home health aides, and can be very helpful in increasing pay. The median pay rate for home health aides in California is just under $21,000 and many home health aides notice slow salary growth in the early part of their career. However, becoming a health aide can serve as the springboard to a variety of related medical positions and can also bolster one's credentials for a management role at a care provider.

• California Department of Health Services
• City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services
• Los Angeles County Department of Health Services
• City of Pasadena Public Health Department
• Public Health Week - Kern County
• San Diego County Health Department
• San Francisco Department of Public Health