Gov. Ned Lamont recently signed into law a bill that requires training for workers at homemaker companion agencies, a key segment of Connecticut’s sprawling home care industry.

As the state’s older adult population grows and more people want to age at home, home care aides are increasingly in demand.

These workers currently undergo training on mandatory reporting and sexual harassment, and aides who work with people in Medicaid waiver programs must complete special training through the state. But until the bill’s passage this year, other types of instruction have been optional.

Beginning in January, homemaker companion staff will be required to complete training on a range of issues, including maintaining a clean and safe environment (practices related to dressing, bathing and toileting), identification and reporting of abuse and neglect, communication, identifying and reporting changes in a client’s condition, and non-medical services for people with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

Representatives from the home care sector worked with lawmakers to develop the legislation, which passed both chambers with broad support.

Here’s what to know about the new requirements.

What do homemaker companion agency workers do?

These employees provide nonmedical, home-based services like housekeeping, meal preparation, running errands, assistance with personal hygiene, dressing, providing transportation and completing routine tasks.

How often must these workers complete training?

New employees at homemaker companion agencies will have to complete at least eight hours of training. To continue their education, workers are also required to complete each training program every two years. Legislators included a provision in the bill to make the training portable, so staff don’t have to retake the courses if they go to work for a different agency.

How will the state monitor compliance?

The state’s consumer protection commissioner, working with several other state agencies, will create a list of programs. Upon completion of any training, homemaker companion employees and their supervisors have to submit a form to the state attesting they’ve finished the program. Forms must include the type of training and date of completion. The Department of Consumer Protection must keep paper or electronic copies of those records in employees’ personnel files.

How many homemaker companion agencies are there in Connecticut?

The number of homemaker companion agencies in Connecticut has risen sharply over the last decade as more people age at home. In 2012, there were 380 registered homemaker companion agencies. By 2022, the number had grown to more than 900.

State officials now estimate there are 1,100.

Why is training important?

Along with helping workers to be better prepared for the job, officials say the training mandates add a measure of oversight to a largely unregulated industry.

Unlike nursing home employees and home health aides, who must be licensed by the state Department of Public Health, there is no licensing process for homemaker companion workers. The agencies must instead register annually with the state Department of Consumer Protection.

The Connecticut Mirror in 2023 reviewed more than 75 complaints against homemaker companion agencies filed with the consumer protection department between 2018 and 2020 and discovered at least half a dozen cases in which homemaker companion agency employees were arrested for allegedly stealing from their clients, along with over a dozen findings by DCP investigators of agencies that routinely misadvertised their services and seven complaints of clients being left alone for hours at a time.

Many of the DCP investigations led to small fines of less than $5,000 or an employee being fired. Agency officials acknowledged the department had never denied a homemaker companion business’s registration and had never revoked a business’s registration following an investigation.

“We believe these homemaker companions are valuable and deserve to have training to help them better do their job,” Rep. Jane Garibay, D-Windsor, co-chair of the legislature’s Aging Committee, said during a House debate on the training bill in April. “Life has changed. People are living longer with more ailments. The aging population is exploding in Connecticut.

“We do get reports of, ‘[This is] not a good home homemaker companion,’ of some issues, so we have to make sure they have the basic skills to go into a home to take care of our loved ones.”