Arkansas has an enacted community health worker (CHW) certification framework and adopted rules effective August 15, 2026. Applicants can qualify through different preparation and experience routes. Program leads should distinguish state certification, training-provider awards and the current service-specific instructions supporting insurance or Medicaid payment, then organize supervision, referrals and documentation around the actual program.
Arkansas CHW quick facts
| Topic | Arkansas guidance |
|---|---|
| Certification framework | Act 435 of 2025 and 17 CAR Part 55. [1] |
| Rule effective date | August 15, 2026. [1] |
| Minimum age | 18, with required documentation and other eligibility evidence. [2] |
| Qualification routes | ARCHWA certification, specified training/experience routes, or qualifying extensive experience. [2] |
| Initial state application fee | $50 under §55-106. [2] |
| Certificate term | Two years. [3] |
| Renewal submission | At least 60 days before expiry to be timely. [3] |
| Renewal learning and fee | 20 hours professional development/training every two years; $50 renewal application fee. [3] |
| Reciprocity | Substantially equivalent out-of-state certification, good standing and required verification. [4] |
| Training example | UAMS apprenticeship describes 160 education hours and 2,000 on-the-job hours over one year. [5] |
| Payment distinction | State certification is required for the insurance/Medicaid reimbursement addressed by §55-104; service-specific payment instructions remain necessary. [6] |
| Last reviewed | November 6, 2026 |
For program leaders
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What changed for Arkansas CHW certification?
Act 435 created the Community Health Workers Certification Act framework. The official Code of Arkansas Rules now publishes 17 CAR Part 55, with an August 15, 2026 effective date. Describing Arkansas CHW certification as only an informal training initiative misses that adopted framework. [1]
The rule separates eligibility, certification, renewal, reciprocity and other administrative provisions. Use the adopted text rather than an older markup labeled draft. A proposed document can explain history, but it should not displace the current rule.
For an employer, the immediate task is to identify each worker’s actual route and issued status. Retain course completion and experience evidence without treating those records as the final state decision.
What activities fall within the Arkansas CHW scope?
Section 55-103 identifies cultural mediation, health education, care and case coordination, system navigation, coaching, advocacy, outreach, community assessment and evaluation. Its medication-related example is compliance support under a patient care plan directed by a healthcare provider or professional. That wording does not authorize the CHW to independently change the plan. Official scope rule.
Use the rule to write the job description, then define the particular employer’s duties and escalation route. A certified worker should know which questions go to a clinician and which resource barriers can be addressed through navigation. Scope of practice is also separate from whether a payer covers a particular activity.
Fictional example: A participant says a medication routine is difficult to follow. The CHW can document the barrier, help communicate with the responsible team and support the provider-directed plan. The note should not claim that the CHW independently prescribed or changed medication.
Who can qualify for initial certification?
Section 55-106 requires an application, age documentation, the specified offense-related evidence, a qualifying route and a $50 fee. Its routes include ARCHWA certification, combinations of work and approved preparation, a mentored/supervised experience route and extensive experience. [2]
One route combines at least two years of CHW work, including one in Arkansas, with 120 core-competency hours consisting of 80 didactic and 40 guided-field hours. Another recognizes four years of competency-demonstrating experience, including two in Arkansas. The mentored route has its own learning, mentor and supervisor conditions. Read the complete branch selected for the applicant. [2]
Do not combine the easiest element from several branches into a new route. Build an application checklist for the actual pathway, with a reviewer who can identify missing evidence before submission.
How should a program compare the qualifying routes?
Use the complete branch in §55-106 rather than mixing requirements from different routes:
| Applicant’s evidence | Route to evaluate |
|---|---|
| Current ARCHWA certification | The association-certification branch |
| Two years of CHW work, including one in Arkansas | The branch combining that experience with 120 hours of approved core preparation |
| One year of Arkansas CHW work | The separate branch addressing supplemental preparation and mentor/supervisor arrangements |
| Four years demonstrating competency, including two in Arkansas | The extensive-experience branch |
The one-year branch has detailed wording about supplemental learning, mentor access and trained supervision. Have the Department confirm the complete evidence required for that branch. Do not assume that attendance at an occasional staff meeting establishes a mentored qualification route. §55-106(4).
For an experienced worker, assemble a chronological record before selecting a new course: where the work occurred, dates, duties, hours if requested and the person who can verify it. This makes it easier to identify a genuine gap in preparation without discarding useful experience.
How do Arkansas training programs differ?
Training can help meet a certification route, but course descriptions are not identical to state certification decisions. ARCHWA’s approved-program page describes traditional and apprenticeship options and includes UAMS and Arkansas Rural Health Partnership resources. [7]
UAMS’s current apprenticeship page describes 160 education hours: 80 initial coursework hours plus 80 continuing-education hours across the training year. It also describes 2,000 hours of on-the-job training, employer-paid salary, mentor support and covered training costs for that program. [5]
Those figures should not be collapsed into the rule’s 120-hour route. They describe different components and program structures. Ask which credential or application evidence the provider will deliver and how the field placement is verified.
What are useful Arkansas training options?
ARCHWA’s approved list provides a practical starting point for comparing providers. It describes UAMS’s core preparation and guided fieldwork, and an Arkansas Rural Health Partnership course with a 120-hour commitment over eight weeks. Provider terms, schedules and member benefits belong to the described offering. [7]
Before enrolling, confirm:
- The actual track and award, including whether it supports the applicant’s selected state route.
- Classroom, independent-learning and field-experience components.
- Mentor and supervisor responsibilities and how evidence reaches the applicant.
- Current cohort availability, tuition support, technology, travel and employer commitments.
- The process for correcting an incomplete or inaccurate experience record.
A workforce course should be chosen for the worker’s preparation and the role they will perform. A software dropdown should not determine which certification route an experienced worker must pursue.
How should an applicant prepare the file?
Start with the adopted rule and the Department of Health’s current CHW application instructions. Check that each document is for the correct credential and route. Keep a copy of the actual submission and any agency request for clarification.
- Identify the qualifying route and evidence required by that complete branch.
- Obtain age, training and experience documents and the required verification.
- Confirm whether mentor, supervisor or other pathway-specific evidence is needed.
- Submit through the current accepted process and retain the payment and application record.
- Record the issued certification decision separately from the date the application was sent.
The employer should know who follows up when the application is incomplete. Participant-service records should not become the storage place for unrelated personal application material.
How often does certification renew?
Section 55-107 gives the certificate a two-year term. Timely renewal documentation is due 60 days before expiry. Renewal requires favorable review of the application and evidence, including 20 hours of professional development and training during the two-year period and a $50 application fee. [3]
Set reminders from the actual certificate and submission window. Do not wait until the expiry date to ask who holds the evidence. Retain topic, provider, completion date and hours so the reviewer can reconstruct the total.
Logging enough hours does not itself renew the certificate. Application submitted, evidence accepted and certification renewed should remain distinct stages.
Can an out-of-state CHW use reciprocity?
Arkansas provides a reciprocal-certification route for substantially equivalent certification or licensure from another U.S. jurisdiction. The rule addresses relevance, good standing, disciplinary status and documentation of equivalence. It permits verification with the other authority. [4]
An uploaded out-of-state certificate is therefore a starting document, not automatic Arkansas approval. Identify the actual issuing authority and ask the applicant for the evidence required by the current route.
What if the worker is a service member, veteran or spouse?
Section 55-108 has a separate route for specified service members, veterans and spouses. It addresses qualifying out-of-state credentials, relevant service training, application evidence and fees. For a qualifying deployment, it also provides a 180-day extension after return and addresses continuing education before the next renewal. Use this provision for an eligible applicant rather than assuming ordinary reciprocity is the only choice. Official military-related provision.
Keep the eligibility evidence and Department decision with the workforce file. A veteran or spouse label alone does not establish that every condition in this route has been satisfied.
Does certification make every CHW activity billable?
No. Section 55-104 restricts use of the certified role without state certification and makes certification a condition for the insurance or Medicaid reimbursement it addresses. That does not supply every covered-service definition, enrollment step, code, rate or claim condition. [6]
An organization should establish the current service and payer arrangement separately. Keep the enrolled provider, rendering role, supervision, participant conditions, documentation and service-date instructions with the approved configuration.
A statewide certification framework and an organization’s usable payment arrangement answer different questions. For the particular service, retain the current payer instructions and approval instead of treating workforce certification as an invoice or claim guarantee.
For a grant or employer contract, use its deliverable and reporting specification. Valuable CHW work may be documented and funded through an arrangement that does not generate an individual claim for every contact.
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How should mentorship and service supervision be organized?
The certification route, training program and service employer may assign different supervisory responsibilities. Keep those relationships clear. A mentor supporting learning is not automatically the person approving a service record or determining payer qualification.
For a trainee, identify the competency being learned, evidence required, reviewer and next action. For participant support, identify the assigned worker, referral contact and person responsible for an unanswered handoff.
A training observation can relate to a real service without becoming an additional delivered encounter. Keep learner progress and participant services reportable separately.
What should an Arkansas CHW service note show?
Use a goal-centered note matched to the actual funding program. Recommended fields include the service date, worker, method, participant need, support delivered, response, referral result and follow-up owner. Add the duration and approvals required by the specific covered service or agreement.
Fictional example: A trainee helps a participant contact a resource. The destination cannot accept the referral. The note records that result and the participant’s preferred alternative. The mentor separately reviews the learning evidence. The participant has one support history, not an extra encounter created by the competency review.
Keep corrections attributable and retain the history. When another worker takes over, the pending need and next task should remain easy to find.
Which reports should a program director review?
Use separate workforce and participant views. Workforce reporting should show actual certification status, renewal deadlines, mentor tasks and missing evidence. Participant reporting should show unique people, completed contacts, referral outcomes and unresolved needs.
For each award or payer arrangement, retain the reporting-period definition and source records. Training hours, service duration and claim units are different measures. Do not add them together to make a larger activity total.
Review an unanswered referral and an incomplete application during the same operational meeting, but assign each to the person responsible for that process. Clear ownership matters more than a dashboard with one undifferentiated completion percentage.
What should Arkansas CHW software help the team do?
Explore community health workflows. A useful platform should connect participant goals, staff assignments, notes, referrals and reports while making workforce evidence retrievable in its proper place.
In a demonstration, use a worker on a specified certification route and a participant with an unresolved referral. Show the mentor review, service note and funder report separately. Confirm what the current product supports and identify configuration or interface work explicitly.
See the Smores Health platform. Book a program walkthrough with a blank service form and one required report. Request pricing for the staff, training, reporting and implementation scope your organization actually needs.
See it in your program
Build your program around a connected workflow.
Bring your forms and reporting needs. See how Smores Health connects service notes, supervisor review, and program reporting in a walkthrough focused on your team.
A 20-minute walkthrough for your program.
Frequently asked questions
Is Act 435 still only proposed?
No. The adopted Part 55 rules are effective August 15, 2026. Use the enacted framework and current administration. [1]
Does the UAMS apprenticeship have the same hours as every certification route?
No. UAMS describes its own education and on-the-job structure. The rule has different eligibility branches. Match the program evidence to the selected route. [2, 5]
Does completing 20 training hours automatically renew a certificate?
No. Renewal also requires the application, documentation, fee and favorable review. The timely-submission window matters. [3]
Is reciprocity automatic after uploading an out-of-state certificate?
No. The rule requires substantial equivalence, good standing and supporting verification. [4]
Can a certification rule be used as a complete Medicaid billing manual?
No. Establish current coverage, provider participation and service-specific submission requirements separately. [6]
What should an Arkansas program do next?
Choose the correct workforce route, assemble the current evidence and plan renewal early. Map the actual service and funding agreement to a participant journey, keeping learning and service records distinct.
Book a program walkthrough with Smores Health using that route, referral and report.
Sources
[1] Official Code of Arkansas Rules, Part 55 purpose and effective date. https://codeofarrules.arkansas.gov/Rules/Rule?chapterID=93&levelType=section&partID=1468§ionID=63836&subChapterID=118&subPartID=9514&titleID=17
[2] 17 CAR §55-106, initial eligibility. https://codeofarrules.arkansas.gov/Rules/Rule?chapterID=93&levelType=section&partID=1468§ionID=63841&subChapterID=118&subPartID=9514&titleID=17
[3] 17 CAR §55-107, renewal. https://codeofarrules.arkansas.gov/Rules/Rule?chapterID=93&levelType=section&partID=1468§ionID=63842&subChapterID=118&subPartID=9514&titleID=17
[4] 17 CAR §55-109, reciprocal certification. https://codeofarrules.arkansas.gov/Rules/Rule?chapterID=93&levelType=section&partID=1468§ionID=63844&subChapterID=118&subPartID=9514&titleID=17
[5] UAMS CHW training and apprenticeship. https://communityhealth.uams.edu/strategic-areas/access/community-health-worker-training-program/
[6] 17 CAR §55-104, unlawful practice and reimbursement condition. https://codeofarrules.arkansas.gov/Rules/Rule?chapterID=93&levelType=section&partID=1468§ionID=63839&subChapterID=118&subPartID=9514&titleID=17
[7] ARCHWA approved training programs. https://www.archwa.org/training-programs
[8] 17 CAR §55-108, uniformed-service provisions. https://codeofarrules.arkansas.gov/Rules/Rule?chapterID=93&levelType=section&partID=1468§ionID=63843&subChapterID=118&subPartID=9514&titleID=17
[9] Arkansas Department of Health, maternal-health initiative announcement. https://healthy.arkansas.gov/article/sanders-arkansas-department-of-health-launch-statewide-campaign-to-connectwomen-to-pregnancy-care/
[10] Arkansas State Board of Health, CHW scope of practice, 17 CAR §55-103. Official rule.