Georgia community health workers can build skills through DPH’s core-competency initiative and programs such as Morehouse School of Medicine’s adult CHW curriculum. Training awards, proposed state certification and payer requirements are separate decisions. This guide explains the available resources and helps program leads organize workforce development, participant support and reliable reporting. [1, 2]
Georgia CHW quick facts
| Topic | Georgia guidance |
|---|---|
| State workforce resource | Georgia Department of Public Health CHW Initiative. [1] |
| Core training | DPH describes a core-competency program developed with the University of Georgia. [1] |
| Specialty training | DPH lists asthma education for CHWs. [1] |
| Adult training example | Morehouse School of Medicine offers an online adult CHW curriculum. [2] |
| Provider-specific entry condition | Morehouse’s adult-program page asks for a US high school diploma. This is not stated here as a statewide rule. [2] |
| Workforce network | Georgia CHW Network, with advisory-board and advocacy partners. [1] |
| Certification policy | HB291 proposed a state framework. A proposal or committee vote is not an issued credential. [5] |
| Emergency preparedness | UGA publishes resources from its CHW disaster-preparedness project. [3] |
| Payment verification | Use the actual DCH service policy or CMO agreement, rather than a course certificate. [6] |
| Last reviewed | November 6, 2026 |
For program leaders
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What is a community health worker in Georgia?
Georgia’s DPH initiative recognizes trusted frontline workers with knowledge of the communities and people they serve. Titles can include navigator, promotora, outreach worker and health promoter. [1]
A strong position description explains what the worker does with that trust: engage participants, support understanding, help navigate services and follow through on agreed needs. Define how the CHW works with clinicians and community organizations, including questions that require another professional.
For program leaders, community knowledge should be visible in hiring and supervision. Language, relationships and lived understanding matter alongside documentation and resource-navigation skills.
How do you start a CHW career in Georgia?
Begin with the role and employer you want to serve, then select training that fits that work. DPH’s CHW page describes core-competency training developed with UGA and identifies workforce-network resources. Morehouse offers an adult online curriculum with its own entry conditions. [1, 2]
Ask prospective employers which programs they recognize and what additional orientation or screening they require. A course certificate is evidence of learning, while employer readiness also depends on the assigned duties and supervision.
Keep a portfolio with training completion, relevant experience, community work and examples of skills. Use fictional or appropriately de-identified examples rather than copying identifiable participant records into a job application.
Is Georgia CHW training the same as state certification?
No. Training-provider awards, employer qualification and a state certification framework are distinct. HB291 proposed creating a certification committee and training-program approval process. The cited legislative material documents a proposal and committee activity, not an operational application route. [5]
The Senate’s session-final status report of May 14, 2026 lists HB291’s House passage and Senate committee activity, with no final Senate passage, governor signature or act number recorded for the bill. Treat it as a proposal rather than an issued credential pathway. Official session-final report, page 35.
Use precise language when describing a worker’s qualifications. Name the course and issuer instead of converting a completion award into a state license. Before advertising a new statewide requirement, verify the enacted law and DPH’s current implementation instructions.
For program planning, avoid assigning a universal exam, renewal period or experience threshold from another state. Use the requirements that actually apply to the worker’s course, employer and service agreement.
What Georgia CHW training options should you compare?
DPH describes foundational training focused on communication, advocacy, care coordination, ethical practice and related competencies. It also lists asthma education for CHWs, which is a specialty offering rather than a replacement for a complete onboarding plan. [1]
Morehouse’s adult curriculum covers community health, privacy, motivational interviewing, chronic disease, navigation and other CHW skills. Its program page identifies a US high school diploma as an entry condition. [2]
UGA’s Institute for Disaster Management publishes materials from a CHW preparedness project, including two six-hour courses and kit-maintenance resources. Those are project-specific resources; do not assume that an older project page announces a new cohort. [3]
Compare current availability, teaching format, attendance, practice opportunities, cost and the completion evidence each provider supplies. Ask how a worker will demonstrate the skills after the class.
Which pathway fits your goal?
| Goal | Resource to compare | Question to resolve before enrolling |
|---|---|---|
| Build foundational CHW skills | DPH and UGA core-competency initiative | What is the current course schedule and completion evidence? |
| Complete an adult online curriculum | Morehouse adult CHW program | Do the provider’s entry conditions and learning format fit the applicant? |
| Add an asthma focus | DPH asthma education | How will the employer support education within the worker’s role? |
| Develop an employed worker | Morehouse apprenticeship | Who sponsors the training and supervises the workplace experience? |
| Supplement emergency readiness | UGA preparedness materials | Which resources remain relevant to the employer’s current emergency plan? |
These programs serve different purposes. DPH’s asthma training is available to community organizations, healthcare providers and other partners building staff and volunteer capacity. The agency identifies its curriculum as developed by the Association of Asthma Educators. That specialty does not replace the clinician responsible for assessing and treating a participant’s asthma. DPH CHW Initiative.
For a worker already serving families, compare the training against actual tasks. A gap in explaining a referral, documenting a participant’s preference or recognizing a question that needs clinical review may be more important than collecting a second completion award covering the same material.
How do apprenticeship and youth programs differ?
Morehouse describes adult, high-school and young-adult offerings alongside a CHW apprenticeship curriculum. Its education page explains that apprentices may be new hires or current employees. [4]
Choose the program intended for the applicant’s stage. An academic youth pipeline and an employed apprenticeship can have different schedules, supervision, fieldwork and awards. Do not combine hours from several descriptions into a made-up statewide pathway.
For an employer-sponsored apprenticeship, obtain a written plan identifying the sponsor, training, paid work, supervisor, progress reviews and completion credential. Clarify which costs are covered before promising a free or paid opportunity to applicants.
What should Georgia CHW onboarding include?
Use a role-specific checklist with five parts:
- Community and population orientation, including language access and relevant partners.
- Scope, boundaries and a clear route for clinical or urgent questions.
- Participant engagement, consent and approved communication methods.
- Documentation, referrals, reporting and information-sharing routines.
- Field safety, supervision and continuing development.
Record the person who reviewed each area and how the worker demonstrated readiness. Completion should involve practice, such as writing a fictional encounter note or handling an unavailable referral, rather than only opening a policy document.
Keep training evidence in a workforce record. Participants’ sensitive histories do not belong in an applicant’s or employee’s learning portfolio.
How should supervision support Georgia CHWs?
Create regular time to review participant goals, barriers, service quality and workload. Include the worker’s assessment of whether a process fits the community.
A useful supervision example is a participant who has missed two appointments because the proposed transport option did not operate at the required time. Review the barrier, identify the partner who can help and agree on a next step. The goal is a workable plan, rather than a higher call count.
Record decisions and due dates. If the supervisor changes, the next supervisor should be able to see open actions without reconstructing them from scattered messages.
These are recommended program practices. Particular employers, training arrangements and funded services can set additional requirements.
How can Georgia CHW programs understand Medicaid funding?
A CHW training award does not supply a Medicaid rate, service definition or billing provider. Georgia DCH maintains Medicaid and managed-care resources. The organization needs the applicable current policy and, where relevant, its Care Management Organization agreement. [6]
Before forecasting payment, identify the service being purchased, eligible organization, worker requirements, supervision, documentation, authorization and payment basis. Ask whether the agreement funds a position, a team function, a deliverable or a claimable service.
Keep DPH workforce-development information separate from payment authority. Likewise, an old pilot presentation or certification proposal should not be presented as a universal CHW benefit.
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How do home-visiting and other specialized programs fit?
Georgia DPH maintains a home-visiting program resource for providers. [7] A CHW may work within a specialized program, but the program’s service model, training and reporting obligations need their own review.
Do not treat home visiting, asthma education and general navigation as interchangeable categories. Use the assigned program and funding agreement to decide what the encounter must record.
For a maternal-health team, useful questions include who follows up after a missed visit, how clinical questions are escalated and which outcomes the funder actually requests. Add those fields to the relevant workflow without requiring every CHW in the organization to complete unrelated forms.
How should a CHW support a maternal-health referral?
DPH describes its Home Visiting Program as a voluntary service at no cost to patients or providers, supporting higher-risk mothers and babies from pregnancy through the baby’s first birthday. A family does not need to be in crisis to qualify, and referral may occur during pregnancy or postpartum. The program brings public health nurses and trained CHWs together; its clinical components should not be assigned to every general-navigation worker. DPH provider information.
The provider page describes a one-page referral form, submission by fax, scan or electronic method, and follow-up managed by the home-visiting team. A practical CHW handoff can record the participant’s agreement, the authorized referral channel, the receiving team and the next check-in. Keep the receiving program’s enrollment decision separate from the fact that a referral was sent. DPH referral process.
For example, a pregnant participant may want help keeping appointments after a change in transportation. The CHW can help explain the resource and facilitate the appropriate referral within the employer’s process. The record should show the barrier and agreed next action, without asserting that the worker diagnosed a pregnancy complication or that the family was enrolled before the receiving team confirmed it.
What belongs in a Georgia CHW note?
Suggested core elements are the participant’s stated goal, service date, worker, program, contact method, activity, response and next action. Include duration and additional evidence when the actual agreement requires them.
For example, an asthma-focused contact might record education provided within the worker’s role, an environmental concern raised by the family and a referral to the appropriate resource. It should not imply that the CHW independently diagnosed a condition or changed treatment.
Keep the note specific and readable. Explain whether the participant accepted the next step and what remains unknown. A brief, accurate record is more useful than a long template filled with unrelated statements.
How should referrals be followed through?
Treat the referral as a sequence: offered, accepted, sent, acknowledged and assistance received. A participant may stop at any point, and the record should explain the next action.
Maintain a resource directory with service area, intake method, language access, contact and verification date. Give workers a way to flag an unavailable service so the same failed referral is not repeated across the team.
When a partner cannot help, document the barrier and participant preference. A completed staff task should not automatically resolve the underlying need.
Which reports should a Georgia program lead review?
Use reports that distinguish unique people, contacts, open needs, referrals and confirmed outcomes. Add workforce development separately, including course progress and employer-required training.
For funder reporting, define the measure before collecting it. State the period, denominator, inclusion rules and source of the outcome. A participant with several contacts should not inflate the count of people served.
Review missing follow-up owners and repeated referral failures. These are actionable management signals, especially when the program needs to explain resource gaps or adjust partnerships.
What should Georgia CHW software help your team do?
Evaluate documentation, supervisor review, referral management, staff handoffs and reporting together. Check whether workers can complete the needed record on their actual devices and whether supervisors can find unfinished work.
Explore community health workflows and the Smores Health platform. Bring your training checklist, blank encounter form and a real reporting specification without participant information.
Ask the vendor to distinguish current functionality from configuration and planned work. Confirm data export, attachments, migration, support and the complete implementation price.
What should you demonstrate before choosing a platform?
Use a fictional new CHW and an asthma-program participant whose referral has stalled.
- Record the worker’s completed training and remaining employer orientation.
- Document the participant’s goal and education contact.
- Capture the partner’s unavailable appointment and assign an alternative.
- Have the supervisor return a note for clarification and retain the correction.
- Produce a report that separates people, contacts and referral results.
Book a program walkthrough with Smores Health to test this sequence. Agree on acceptance criteria, implementation responsibilities and the reports the organization needs to reproduce.
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
Does a Georgia training certificate establish a state CHW license?
Do not make that inference. Record the issuer and award precisely, and use current DPH implementation instructions for any state credential. [1, 5]
Where should I start looking for CHW training?
DPH’s CHW Initiative and Morehouse’s adult-program page are useful primary entry points. Confirm current enrollment and program conditions directly. [1, 2]
Is UGA’s emergency-preparedness project a universal CHW course requirement?
No. The cited resources describe a specific disaster-preparedness project. They are useful supplementary materials, not evidence of a statewide training-hour mandate. [3]
Does core training guarantee Medicaid payment?
No. The organization still needs an applicable service and payment arrangement, with the required workforce and documentation evidence. [6]
Should one form cover every Georgia CHW program?
Use a shared core record with program-specific additions. A general navigation contact and a specialized home-visiting service may have different reporting needs.
Build a practical Georgia CHW operating system
Bring one training plan, one participant handoff and one required report to Smores Health. Review how the team would document support, manage open needs and oversee progress. Book a program walkthrough or request pricing for your organization.
Sources
[1] Georgia DPH, Community Health Worker Initiative. https://dph.georgia.gov/chronic-disease-prevention/community-health-workers
[2] Morehouse School of Medicine, adult CHW training. https://cesh.msm.edu/patient-care/adultchw.php
[3] UGA Institute for Disaster Management, CHW preparedness resources. https://idm.publichealth.uga.edu/epkits/
[4] Morehouse School of Medicine, education and apprenticeship programs. https://cesh.msm.edu/InnovationLab/EducationalPrograms.php
[5] Georgia House, February 26, 2025 committee report on HB291. https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/house-budget-and-research-office-document-library/daily-report-2025/ld23_wed_feb_26_2025.pdf
[6] Georgia DCH, Medicaid managed-care resources. https://dch.georgia.gov/medicaid-managed-care
[7] Georgia DPH, home-visiting information for providers. https://dph.georgia.gov/women-and-children/hvp/information-providers