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This website publishes administrative rules on their effective dates, as designated by the adopting state agencies, colleges, and universities.

Rule 173-39-02.8 | ODA provider certification: homemaker.

 

(A) Definitions for this rule:

(1) "Homemaker" means a service enabling individuals to achieve and maintain clean, safe and healthy environments, assisting individuals to manage their personal appointments and day-to-day household activities, and ensuring individuals maintain their current living arrangements. The service consists of general household activities, such as meal preparation and routine household care when persons regularly responsible for these activities are temporarily absent or unable to manage the home. Homemaker staff may act as travel attendants for individuals. Homemaker activities include the following when authorized in the person-centered services plan:

(a) Assistance with meal planning.

(b) Meal preparation, grocery purchase planning, and assisting individuals with shopping and other errands.

(c) Laundry, including folding, ironing, and putting away laundry.

(d) House cleaning including dusting furniture, sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping floors; kitchen care including dishes, appliances, and counters; bathroom care; emptying and cleaning bedside commodes; changing bed linens; washing inside windows within reach from the floor; and removing trash.

(e) Errands outside of the presence of the individual which are needed by the individual to maintain the individual's health and safety (e.g., picking up a prescription or groceries for the individual).

(2) "Aide" means the person who provides homemaker activities.

(B) Requirements for ODA-certified providers of homemaker:

(1) General requirements: The provider shall comply with the requirements for every ODA-certified agency provider in rule 173-39-02 of the Administrative Code.

(2) Eligible providers of homemaker are ODA-certified agency providers.

(3) Availability: The provider shall maintain adequate staffing levels to provide the service at least five days per week and shall possess a back-up plan to ensure the service is provided during staff absences.

(4) Provider policies: The provider shall develop written or electronic personnel requirements, including all the following:

(a) Job descriptions for each position.

(b) Documentation of each employee's qualifications for the homemaker activities to be provided.

(c) Performance appraisals for all staff.

(5) Staff qualifications:

(a) Aides:

(i) Initial qualifications: The provider shall only allow a person to serve as an aide if the person meets at least one of the following qualifications:

(a) The person meets at least one of the qualifications to be a PCA under paragraph (C)(3)(a) of rule 173-39-02.11 of the Administrative Code.

(b) The person successfully completed a training and competency evaluation program with all the following characteristics:

(i) The training lasted at least twenty hours.

(ii) All the following subjects were included in the program's training and its competency evaluation:

(A) Universal precautions for infection control, including hand washing and the disposal of bodily waste.

(B) Meal preparation/nutrition that includes special diet preparation, grocery purchase planning and shopping; and other errands, such as picking up prescriptions.

(C) Laundry, including folding, ironing, and putting away laundry.

(D) Basic home safety.

(E) House cleaning skills that include dusting furniture; sweeping, vacuuming and washing floors, kitchen care (including washing dishes, appliances and counters), bathroom care, emptying and cleaning bedside commodes, changing bed linens, washing inside windows within reach from the floor, and removing trash.

(F) Body mechanics.

(G) Communication skills.

(H) Emergency protocols.

(I) Record-keeping skills.

(ii) Before providing activities to an individual, the provider shall conduct a competency evaluation of all aides not listed on ODH's nurse aide registry for all subject areas listed under paragraph (B)(5)(a)(i)(b)(ii) of this rule. The provider shall retain records for the name of the school or training organization, name of the course, training dates, and training hours successfully completed.

(b) Supervisors: The provider shall only allow a person to serve as an aide supervisor if the person meets one or more of the following qualifications:

(i) The person has a bachelors or associates degree in a health and human services area.

(ii) The person is an RN or an LPN under the direction of an RN.

(iii) The person completed at least two years of work as an aide, as defined by this rule.

(c) All staff:

(i) Orientation: Before allowing any staff member to provide homemaker activities to an individual, the provider shall train the staff member on all the following:

(a) The provider's expectations of homemaker staff.

(b) The provider's ethical standards, as required under rule 173-39-02 of the Administrative Code.

(c) An overview of the provider's personnel policies.

(d) The organization and lines of communication of the provider's agency.

(e) Incident-reporting procedures.

(f) Emergency procedures.

(g) Person-centered planning process.

(ii) In-service training: The provider shall retain records to show that each aide successfully completes a minimum of eight hours of in-service training every twelve months on topics listed under paragraph (B)(5)(a)(i)(b)(ii) of this rule.

(6) Supervisory requirements:

(a) Initial: The supervisor shall complete an initial visit, which may occur at the aide's initial homemaker visit to the individual to define the expected activities of the homemaker aide and prepare a written or electronic activities plan consistent with the case manager authorized plan that has been completed by the case manager and the individual before the individual's first episode of service. During a state of emergency declared by the governor or federal public health emergency, the supervisor may conduct the visit by telephone, video conference, or in person at the individual's home.

(b) Subsequent: The supervisor shall complete an evaluation of the aide's compliance with the activities plan, the individual's satisfaction, and job performance during a home visit with the individual at least every ninety days to evaluate the aides compliance with the plan. The supervisor may conduct each visit with or without the presence of the aide being evaluated. The supervisor may conduct the visit by telephone, video conference, or in person.

(c) Verification: The supervisor shall retain a record of the initial visit and each subsequent visit in the individual's activity plan, including the date of the visit, individual's name, the supervisor's name, and the supervisor's handwritten or electronic signature, and a unique identifier of the individual. During a state of emergency declared by the governor or a federal public health emergency, the provider may verify that the PCA supervisor provided the initial or subsequent visit without collecting a unique identifier of the individual or the individual's caregiver.

(7) Service verification: The provider shall verify each episode of homemaker activities provided to each individual by using the provider's choice of either an electronic or manual system which collects all the following information: the individual's name, the date of service, a description of the activities provided, the name of the aide providing the activities, the aide's arrival and departure times, the unique identifier of the aide, and the unique identifier of the individual to attest to the accuracy of the record.

(C) Units and rates:

(1) One unit of homemaker service is fifteen minutes.

(2) The appendix to rule 5160-1-06.1 of the Administrative Code establishes the maximum rate allowable for a unit of homemaker activities.

(3) The rates are subject to the rate-setting methodology in rule 5160-31-07 of the Administrative Code.

Last updated March 26, 2024 at 10:38 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 121.07, 173.01, 173.02, 173.391, 173.52, 173.522, 173.54, 173.543
Amplifies: 173.39, 173.391, 173.52, 173.522; 42 CFR 441.352
Five Year Review Date: 4/2/2027
Prior Effective Dates: 3/31/2006, 10/1/2017, 6/11/2020 (Emer.), 1/10/2021