Kentucky CHWs can qualify through approved training and mentorship or verified experience. Certified workers renew annually, and Medicaid services require a separate ordering, care-plan and provider framework. This guide explains the workforce requirements and the documentation, referral and reporting workflows program leads should evaluate before selecting software. [1, 2, 3]
Kentucky CHW quick facts
| Topic | Kentucky guidance |
|---|---|
| Credential agency | Kentucky Office of Community Health Workers (KOCHW). [1] |
| Training route | 40 foundational hours, eight mental-health hours and 40 mentorship hours under the 2026 manual. [1] |
| Experience route | 2,500 verified CHW hours within three years, with other application conditions. [2] |
| Initial fee | $50. [2] |
| Renewal fee | $25 annually. [2] |
| First renewal | Manual schedules October in the calendar year after initial certification. [1] |
| Continuing education | 10 hours annually; at least five KOCHW-approved hours under the manual. [1, 2] |
| One-time topics | Oral, maternal/infant and geriatric health, with a separate 12-month rule for newly certified workers. [2] |
| Medicaid service structure | Ordering provider, eligible sponsoring provider and approved care plan. [3] |
| Service record | CHW signs and documents; ordering provider approves; record retained in the patient medical record. [3] |
| Last reviewed | November 6, 2026 |
For program leaders
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What do Kentucky community health workers do?
Kentucky’s CHW framework includes education, cultural mediation, coaching, advocacy, navigation and community assessment. Certification is administered through KOCHW, while Medicaid service requirements sit in a separate regulation. [2, 3]
For an employer, define the community served, duties, languages, clinical escalation route and supervision. The occupational role is broader than one code or funding agreement.
A worker’s trusted relationship should help the team understand barriers and agree on realistic next steps. Documentation should preserve that context alongside required service evidence.
How do you become a certified Kentucky CHW?
The 2026 manual describes a training-and-mentorship route and a work-experience route. The first uses approved foundational instruction, mental-health training and verified mentorship. The second uses 2,500 hours within three years, with required evidence and other application conditions. [1, 2]
Choose the route before assembling the file. An experienced worker should verify duties and hours; a trainee should verify the course’s approval and mentorship plan.
Use KOCHW’s current application links and retain the actual award. Completing training and submitting an application are different milestones from issued certification.
What are the baseline eligibility and application steps?
The 2026 manual identifies an applicant who lives in or is employed as a CHW in Kentucky, is a legal US resident and is at least 18. A high school diploma or GED is preferred, but the manual permits applicants without one to be reviewed individually. It also identifies the approved eight-hour mental-health preparation among the baseline conditions. Do not advertise a mandatory diploma that the current manual describes differently. KOCHW certification manual, page 8.
KOCHW directs applicants to choose the training-and-mentorship or experience application in Certemy, submit the supporting evidence and pay the $50 fee through its government payment portal. Monitor both the account and email for requests. The manual’s 60-day processing guideline begins with a complete application and payment, so it should not be used as a guaranteed award date for an incomplete file. KOCHW application page and manual, pages 11 to 13.
What training and mentorship are required?
The manual specifies 40 hours of approved foundational training, eight hours of qualifying mental-health training and 40 hours of mentorship. Training and mentorship must fall within the applicable three-year window. [1]
Plan a mentorship that includes active skill demonstration, feedback and reflection. Keep a log with the date, activity, competency, time and required acknowledgments. Confirm the current form and mentor conditions with KOCHW.
A useful supervised exercise is a participant handoff: identify the goal, make the referral, record the partner’s response and agree on follow-up. Do not treat passive observation as the whole learning experience.
How should the mentorship be documented?
The manual places mentorship after the approved 40-hour foundational course. It allows activities such as role-play, case discussion, resource development and supervised community work, but says shadowing should not exceed half of mentorship time. Keep active demonstration and feedback in the plan rather than filling the entire requirement with observation. Certification manual, pages 10 to 11.
Use the required tracking form for date, duration, activity, primary competency and both acknowledgments/signatures. A mentor with suspended or revoked CHW certification may not serve in that role; mentors from other professions should be in good standing with their applicable credentialing body. The recommendation to use an experienced CHW should be distinguished from a claim that only a CHW can mentor. KOCHW mentorship instructions.
How should an experience applicant prepare?
The regulation requires verifiable CHW experience within three years. The manual describes supporting job descriptions and references. [1, 2]
List relevant roles, dates, duties, hours and verification contacts. Reconcile the application against employer records and explain any overlap between positions.
Keep the official position evidence. A general healthcare job title does not show which CHW competencies were used. Ask the person providing a reference to describe their direct knowledge of the work.
Can an out-of-state credential transfer automatically?
The 2026 manual states that Kentucky has no reciprocity agreement with another state certifying CHWs. It directs out-of-state certified workers to the work-experience route. That route permits relevant paid or volunteer work, including more than one role within the three-year period, but does not substitute college coursework or another credential’s training for the experience requirement. Certification manual, page 11.
Keep the original credential and the Kentucky decision separate. For an experienced applicant, assemble the employer evidence before assuming an earlier award waives the application, experience or mental-health preparation.
Where do you find approved training and the application?
KOCHW’s resource page links approved foundational organizations, education opportunities, its registry and application resources. It also provides distinct billing guidance for general providers and local health departments. [4]
Confirm current approval for the specific course before enrolling. Ask about schedule, format, field requirements, total cost and completion evidence.
Keep the registry check and application acknowledgment in the worker’s record. The employer should identify who verifies status and who follows up if an application or renewal stalls.
How do Kentucky CHW renewals work?
The regulation sets annual renewal by October 31 and a $25 fee. The 2026 manual schedules first renewal for October of the calendar year after initial certification. [1, 2]
Use the issued credential and current KOCHW instructions to set reminders. A renewal checklist should track education, evidence, application submission and the final decision separately.
The one-time oral, maternal/infant and geriatric-health courses have a separate timing rule: the regulation requires newly certified workers to complete them within 12 months. Plan for that deadline even when the first renewal falls later. [2]
What continuing education should a Kentucky tracker show?
Kentucky requires 10 annual hours. The manual distinguishes at least five KOCHW-approved hours from allowable independent learning and identifies the one-time training topics. [1, 2]
Track provider, title, date, topic, hours and completion evidence. Preserve the approval statement when claiming a course as KOCHW-approved.
A total alone is insufficient for oversight. The supervisor should be able to find missing required topics and distinguish the first-renewal requirements from repeat annual learning. Avoid counting the same one-time course as a new credit every year.
Who can order and sponsor Medicaid CHW services?
The Medicaid regulation identifies ordering practitioners, including physicians, physician assistants, APRNs, dentists and optometrists, associated with eligible sponsoring providers. Services require ordering approval and an approved care plan. [3]
Confirm the organization’s eligible billing arrangement rather than assume every CBO can submit directly. KOCHW’s billing guide distinguishes ordering and billing provider roles. [5]
Record the actual ordering practitioner, sponsoring organization and effective plan. A general staff supervisor is not automatically the ordering provider.
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What CHW services can Kentucky Medicaid cover?
The DMS Population Health Branch states that CHW services became billable July 1, 2023. The regulatory framework includes navigation, coaching and health education linked to a medical intervention in the care plan. [3, 6]
The same framework excludes payment under this regulation for a specific service funded by a federal grant and for a CHW directly employed by an MCO. A CHW service alone does not generate an FQHC, RHC or CCBHC wrap payment. [3]
These distinctions should be reviewed before budgeting revenue. Use the current fee schedule and actual payer instructions for codes, limits and payment.
What belongs in a Kentucky CHW service record?
The regulation requires the CHW’s documentation and signature, ordering-provider approval and retention in the patient medical record. [3] The state billing guide recommends connecting the care team, service time, goals, interventions, referrals and progress. [5]
Build a note that explains the participant’s goal, the action and the next step. Keep the required approval visible. A completed internal task is different from a practitioner’s approval.
For a fictional appointment-access encounter, record the care-plan connection, the participant’s response and whether transport or the appointment is confirmed. Preserve unresolved barriers so the next worker knows what to do.
Does ordering-provider approval require a signature before every claim?
The regulation requires ordering-provider approval and retention in the patient medical record. KOCHW’s billing best-practice guide distinguishes that responsibility from a requirement to sign every CHW note before billing: it describes several ways to document provider review, including care-plan review, medical documentation and team communication. An organization may choose a stricter sign-off workflow, but should identify that as its policy. 907 KAR 3:310, sections 4 and 5 and billing guide, page 14.
For example, a participant may need help arranging transport to a covered appointment. Kentucky’s regulation includes that type of navigation in its listed services when the medical-intervention, plan and other conditions are met. The note should explain the agreed action and link to the approved plan, while keeping the partner’s later response and the participant’s access outcome visible. Do not import another state’s transportation exclusion into Kentucky. 907 KAR 3:310, section 3.
How should local health departments and health centers prepare?
Use the guidance for the actual organization type. KOCHW links a local-health-department billing guide with documentation and audit instructions, alongside a broader guide with FQHC and RHC considerations. [4]
Map the required service record to the organization’s designated medical record and review process. If staff use another operating tool, identify how the approved record is retained and how corrections reach the responsible system.
Do not assume a generic PDF export or a new software subscription establishes the required record flow. Test the complete process with the program, clinical and billing leads.
Which reports should a Kentucky program director review?
Maintain separate views of certification readiness, participant services and payment review. Workforce reporting should show renewal dates, approved education and one-time topics. Service reports should show contacts, referrals, outcomes and open needs.
For funding review, identify the actual agreement and avoid counting the same federally funded service again under the CHW benefit. Trace a sample of report totals to source records.
A director should also see unsigned notes, approvals still pending and tasks without an owner. These are useful operating queues, not simply end-of-month statistics.
What should Kentucky CHW software support?
Evaluate care-plan linkage, CHW authorship, practitioner approval, referral follow-up and reporting as a complete workflow. Keep workforce evidence appropriately separated from participant records.
Explore community health workflows and the Smores Health platform. Bring your approved form, order process and one required report. Ask the vendor to demonstrate current functionality and document configuration needs.
In a fictional case, record an ordered service, complete the CHW note, return it for clarification, obtain the appropriate approval and produce a report. Confirm that the retained history remains understandable after correction.
Review setup, migration, training, support, exports and the complete price. Book a program walkthrough with Smores Health to agree on a scope your team can inspect.
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
Can experience replace the training route?
Kentucky provides a separate experience route using 2,500 verifiable hours within three years, with its own application conditions. [2]
Is every course advertised as CHW training acceptable?
Use KOCHW’s approved organization and course resources for the intended requirement. Keep current approval and completion evidence. [4]
Is first renewal always exactly one year after certification?
The 2026 manual uses October in the following calendar year. Separately track the regulation’s 12-month deadline for specified one-time training. [1, 2]
Can any supervisor approve the Medicaid note?
The regulation identifies approval by the ordering provider of the sponsoring provider. Operational management and payer-required approval are distinct. [3]
Does CHW software guarantee Medicaid reimbursement?
No. Eligibility, certification, ordering, provider, service, documentation and payer conditions still apply.
Build a more reviewable Kentucky CHW workflow
Bring your certification checklist, care-plan workflow and reporting obligation to Smores Health. Review how staff would document support, complete approval and manage unfinished referrals. Book a program walkthrough or request pricing.
Sources
[1] KOCHW, 2026 certification manual. https://www.chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/dpqi/cdpb/CHW%20Program/2026%20CHW%20Certification%20Manual_Final.pdf
[2] Kentucky, 902 KAR 21:040, certification. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/kar/titles/902/021/040/
[3] Kentucky, 907 KAR 3:310, services and reimbursement. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/kar/titles/907/003/310/
[4] KOCHW, training, registry and billing resources. https://www.chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/dpqi/cdpb/Pages/chwp.aspx/1000
[5] Kentucky DPH, CHW Medicaid billing best-practice guide 2025. https://www.chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/dpqi/cdpb/CHW%20Program/Billing%20Guide_final.pdf
[6] Kentucky DMS, Population Health Branch. https://www.chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dms/dpqo/phb/Pages/default.aspx