1. (a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to establish the minimum standards for approval of curricula and programs to train persons to perform promotor(a) or community health worker services or to act as an instructor.

2. (b) All 160-hour curricula to be used to train individuals to perform promotor(a) or community health worker services or to act as instructors must:

   1. (1) assure that the eight core skill and knowledge competencies, identified in the National Community Health Advisor Study, June 1998 for promotores or community health workers, including communication, interpersonal, service coordination, capacity-building, advocacy, teaching and organizational skills and knowledge base on specific health issues are addressed;
   2. (2) include at a minimum 20 clock hours of knowledge and skill-building per core competency for promotores or community health workers and include at a minimum 20 clock hours for instructor training in each of the core competencies that affect promotores or community health workers;
   3. (3) include a method or process to evaluate and document the acquisition of knowledge and mastery of skills by the individual trained;
   4. (4) include a method or process for the individual trained to evaluate the training experience;
   5. (5) be certified by the department and offered within the geographic limits of the State of Texas;
   6. (6) be submitted to the department along with supporting materials in hard copy and electronic format as specified by the department;
   7. (7) be organized with all pages clearly legible and consecutively numbered with a table of contents and divided with tabs identified to correspond to the core competencies, including evaluation materials and other programmatic information and assurances required within this section;
   8. (8) provide a list of certified instructors, facilities and locations for the training program;
   9. (9) provide a calendar of scheduled training events by dates, times and locations;
   10. (10) identify the method for recruiting persons to the program;
   11. (11) report the names of individuals to the department who have successfully completed the training program within 30 days of program completion on a form supplied by the department;
   12. (12) maintain an accurate record of each person's attendance and participation for not less than five years;
   13. (13) include the participation in the curriculum development of an instructor certified by the department; and
   14. (14) specify the method or methods by which training will be delivered, including classroom instruction and use of distance learning.

3. (c) All continuing education curricula to be used to provide continuing education to certified promotores or community health workers or instructors must:

   1. (1) assure that one or more of the eight core skill and knowledge competencies, identified in the National Community Health Advisor Study, June 1998 for promotores or community health workers, including communication, interpersonal, service coordination, capacity-building, advocacy, teaching and organizational skills and knowledge base are addressed;
   2. (2) include a method or process to evaluate and document the acquisition of knowledge and mastery of skills by the individual trained;
   3. (3) include an evaluation by the individual trained of the training experience;
   4. (4) be certified by the department and offered within the geographic limits of the State of Texas;
   5. (5) be submitted to the department along with supporting materials in hard copy and electronic format as specified by the department;
   6. (6) identify the title of the proposed continuing education curriculum, total contact hours, and hours per core competency;
   7. (7) provide a list of certified instructors, facilities and locations for the training program;
   8. (8) provide a calendar of scheduled training events by dates, times and locations;
   9. (9) identify the method for recruiting persons to the program;
   10. (10) report the names of individuals to the department who have successfully completed the training program within 30 days of program completion;
   11. (11) maintain an accurate record of each person's attendance and participation for not less than five years;
   12. (12) include the participation in the curriculum development of an instructor certified by the department; and
   13. (13) specify the method or methods by which training will be delivered, including classroom instruction and use of distance learning.
4. (d) Addenda to existing certified curriculum. A sponsoring organization may submit an addendum when making revisions to a current, certified curriculum. An addendum may be submitted to the department via mail or email and must be in compliance with standards listed in this section.

Source Note:The provisions of this §146.8 adopted to be effective July 20, 2000, 25 TexReg 6708; amended to be effective December 1, 2003, 28 TexReg 10226; amended to be effective January 17, 2006, 31 TexReg 289; amended to be effective October 24, 2010, 35 TexReg 9287.