For every current direct care worker, can you show documentation of how they met competency before their first assignment ?
§ 611.55(a) requires competency to be established before a worker is assigned — via a nurse's license, a competency exam, or a qualifying training program.
For workers who qualified by nurse's license , is a copy of the valid Pennsylvania license in the file?
§ 611.55(a)(1). The license is the evidence for this route — knowing someone is a nurse isn't the same as documenting it.
If you use your own competency exam or training program , does it cover all ten subject areas in § 611.55(b)?
Confidentiality; consumer control and independent living philosophy; instrumental activities of daily living; recognizing changes in the consumer; basic infection control; universal precautions; handling emergencies; documentation; recognizing and reporting abuse and neglect; dealing with difficult behaviors.
For workers who provide hands-on personal care , does your exam or program also cover the six additional areas in § 611.55(c)?
Bathing, shaving, grooming and dressing; hair, skin and mouth care; ambulation and transfer assistance; meal preparation and feeding; toileting; assistance with self-administered medication. Sixteen areas in total for these workers.
Has every worker had a documented competency review within the last twelve months ?
§ 611.55(e) requires a review at least once per year after initial competency is established. This is the requirement agencies most often let slip, because it recurs forever.
Does each review record state which method was used — direct observation, testing, training, consumer feedback, or a combination?
§ 611.55(e) names the acceptable methods. A record that says only "reviewed" doesn't show which one you used.
When a worker received discipline or a sanction over a quality of care issue, did an additional competency review happen at that time?
§ 611.55(e) requires reviews more frequently than annually when discipline or another sanction — the regulation names a verbal warning or suspension — is imposed for a quality of care infraction.
Is the competency documentation kept in each individual worker's file , rather than only in a central binder or shared folder?
§ 611.55(d) and (e) both locate the documentation in the direct care worker's file specifically.
When you hire someone whose break in employment was under twelve months , do you accept and file their prior competency documentation instead of retraining them?
§ 611.55(d) lets competency documentation transfer between agencies and registries across a gap of up to twelve months. Retraining by default is time and payroll spent on a requirement already met.
If the Department requested your worker files tomorrow , could you produce all of the above without reconstructing anything?
The practical test. § 611.55 is a documentation rule as much as a training rule — a review that happened but wasn't written down did not happen.