This bill adds a new section to chapter 18.88B RCW and amends RCW 18.88B.021 and RCW 18.88B.031 to change certification and testing procedures for long-term care workers and home care aides. It requires that, except for statutory exemptions, anyone hired as a long-term care worker must be certified as a home care aide under department rules, and that workers who are not currently certified or who must reactivate an expired credential receive a new date of hire when they start or return to employment. The bill directs the unnamed "department" to work with the Department of Social and Health Services and stakeholders to integrate testing into the home care aide training process, adopt implementing rules, and create a single scope of practice by rule. It also authorizes temporary rule extensions of certification timeframes during declared emergencies and requires a compliance review and report to the legislature within 12 months after an emergency ends. Procedurally, the bill requires completion of specified training and passage of a certification examination (both a skills demonstration and a written or oral knowledge test) as prerequisites to certification, with rulemaking on retesting and remedial steps. Exams may be given during or after training but not before completion of the related training component, must be available in an applicant’s preferred language, and must be evaluated annually for language disparities; disproportionate failure rates by language must trigger a translation review. The bill defines "training partnership affiliate" and "examination," directs testing to be available in qualified facility and community-based programs by July 1, 2028 (subject to appropriation), and requires that testing for certain individually contracted providers be provided by a training partnership affiliate. The change is primarily procedural and administrative (certification/testing requirements, rulemaking, and reporting); it does not create a new crime or change criminal penalties. The text repeatedly refers to "the department" without naming which agency that is, and it cites exemptions and training content in other statutes (RCW 18.88B.041 and RCW 74.39A.074(1)) that are not provided here. Details about funding amounts, what qualifies as a "qualified" training program or department standards, criteria for contractors or DSHS-approved instructors, and the contracting process with training partnership affiliates are not included in the extracted material.

If enacted, most people hired as long-term care workers will need to complete a specified home care aide training and pass both a skills demonstration and a written or oral knowledge test before being certified, and anyone who is not already certified or eligible to reactivate an expired credential will be treated as a new hire when starting or returning to an employer. The state department (working with DSHS and stakeholders) will build testing into the training process, phase testing into facility and community programs already set up to test, require testing availability statewide by July 1, 2028 if money is appropriated, and allow local trainers, DSHS contractors, nonprofit training partnership affiliates, high schools, and community colleges to administer exams; exams must be fair, available in preferred languages, and reviewed annually for language-based disparities. The groups most affected are long-term care workers (who may face new testing and certification costs and timelines), training programs and trainers (who will take on or contract for testing responsibilities and may need new capacity or partnerships), DSHS and the unidentified state department (which must adopt rules, run exams, and report on emergency waivers), and employers represented by exclusive bargaining units (whose required testing must be provided by training partnership affiliates). The bill creates potential new costs and administrative work unless the legislature funds the testing rollout, and several implementation details—such as which agency is the lead, what counts as a “qualified” program, and the specific funding level—are not specified in the extracted text.