Department of Social Services, State-Wide Training Program

Programs for caregivers working in Virginia's Licensed Assisted Living and Adult Day Care Facilities

Developed jointly by the Virginia Department of Social Services, Division of Licensing Programs and the VCU Department of Gerontology, these training programs are made possible through the use of Assisted Living and Adult Day Care facility licensing fees. These programs are provided exclusively for employees of Licensed Assisted Living Facilities and Adult Day Care Centers in Virginia.

Individualized Service Plan Training 

*We are not accepting forms via mail at this time*

Register your Trainer Today!

Each instructor authorized to teach the Individualized Service Plan Training must be registered in the ISP Trainer Database. The ISP Trainer Registration must be renewed annually on or before September 30th. (The first annual renewal is due September 2020)

Each Trainer must submit the ISP Trainer Registration Form, where they can attach a copy of their current license and a copy of their UAI Certificate. After submission, please note you will be redirected to a payment page to complete the $30 ISP trainer registration fee. Trainers will also need to purchase the ISP Curriculum.

Please complete the ISP Materials Order Form and EMAIL to AGINGSTUDIES@VCU.EDU. You will then be directed to a specific curriculum payment page and sent the ISP training powerpoint and a link to the curriculum exam.

PLEASE NOTE: Final approval as an ISP Trainer includes passing a curriculum exam. Certificates will not be issued until the exam has been successfully passed. ISP trainings will not be valid unless the Trainer has received his or her signed Trainer Certificate. Certificates are sent via email after passing the curriculum exam.

Looking for a trainer? Check out our list of approved ISP trainers here: ISP Trainer List Fall 2021

 

ISP Trainer Renewal

Please complete a trainer renewal form annually before September 30th. After submission, please note you will be redirected to a payment page to complete the $12 ISP trainer renewal fee. Certificates are sent out via email within 5-7 business days after submission. 

Trainee Completion Documents

Trainers are required to submit a Trainee Completion Form and attach a Trainee Task Record to the trainee completion form. There is one submission and trainee record per trainee. Please note you will then be redirected to a payment page to complete the $10 ISP trainee registration fee. Certificates are sent out via email within 5-7 business days after submission. 

*VCU will verify that the training has been provided by an approved trainer before providing the trainee with their certificate.  If you are not an approved trainer listed in the VCU database, the trainee will not receive a certificate. 

Messages from Department of Social Services

The following information was sent via email by Annette Kelley to providers on October 4, 2018

Good Afternoon,

I’m excited to share additional information regarding the ISP training curriculum and the process for becoming a trainer and conducting trainings.

The curriculum is currently being printed and should be available to you by the end of this week.  Attached to this email you will find an order form for the curriculum materials.  The materials consist of a curriculum manual, a PowerPoint presentation and a case study workbook called the “Flora Adams Chart”.  The cost of these materials is $35 (shipping is additional).  Depending on the size of your training group, you may want to consider purchasing additional copies of the Flora Adams Chart for use in the final training activity.  You may submit the order form, along with your payment, to the VCU Department of Gerontology at the address on the form.

To clarify the process for becoming a trainer:

  • You must be a licensed health care professional practicing within the scope of your profession (please see the definition in the Standards for Licensed Assisted Living Facilities).
  • You must submit a trainer application with the appropriate fee to the VCU Department of Gerontology (https://gerontology.chp.vcu.edu/). 
  • You must complete UAI training and submit your certificate to VCU.  UAI training is available on the DSS website.  http://dss.virginia.gov/facility/alf.cgi
  • You must purchase the curriculum materials.  The curriculum will be mailed to you and the PowerPoint will be sent to you by email, so be sure to include your email address on the order form.
  • Once you receive your curriculum materials, you must review the materials and successfully pass a brief exam.  This exam will be available on line-the link will be forwarded to you with your curriculum materials.
  • Once you have successfully passed the exam, VCU will mail you your trainer certificate.  You cannot provide ISP training until you receive this certificate.
  • When you provide ISP training you will be required to submit a trainee task record to VCU for each individual trained (the certificate fee must also be submitted).  VCU will verify your status as a trainer before providing the trainee with their completion certificate.  If you are not an approved trainer listed in the VCU database, the trainee will not receive a certificate. 
  • All of the necessary forms will be available on the VCU website listed above.
  • If you have already submitted your trainer application, your next step is to order your curriculum.

Thank you, 

Annette S. Kelley, M.S.; C.S.A.C.
Provider Training Consultant
Virginia Department of Social Services
Division of Licensing Programs

 

The following information was sent via email by Annette Kelley to providers on July 26, 2018

The implementation of the Standards for Licensed Assisted Living Facilities in February, 2018 resulted in changes regarding ISP training curriculum and who can provide the training.  Specifically, 22 VAC 40-73-450 B states, in part, "The licensee, administrator, or his designee who has successfully completed the department-approved individualized service plan (ISP) training, provided by a licensed health care professional practicing within the scope of his profession,..." The two key points here are: 1) "the department-approved ISP training".  There will now be only one approved curriculum available for ISP training.  2) the individual conducting the training must be a licensed health care professional practicing within the scope of his profession.  This individual is defined, in part, in the definitions section of the Standards as: any health care professional currently licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia to practice within the scope of his profession, such as a nurse practitioner, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, clinical social worker, etc. (please refer to the definition for the full list). This definition does not include licensed assisted living facility administrators.

These changes will allow us to change the way you have been able to access ISP training.  We have long been aware that offering ISP training three times a year is not enough, especially when you hire staff right after the training has been offered!  We want to make ISP training more accessible to you and that is exactly what is happening in September!  We are currently in the process of developing the existing ISP training into a curriculum that will be available to qualified trainers to provide when needed both within facilities and at other entities, such as health care based training schools. So, if you have a qualified trainer, you will be able to do ISP training within your facility, on your schedule.  If you don't have a qualified trainer, you will  be able to reach out to other training vendors, or you could partner with another facility.  

How will this work?  The trainers will need to submit an application to the VCU Department of Gerontology so that we can verify credentials that allow them to conduct the training.  There will be a fee to register-$30 initially and the training certificate is good for two years (until 9/2020).  The renewal fee after that date will be $12 annually.  There will also be a fee for the curriculum.  I do not have the specific amount yet, but it should not exceed $50.  The trainers will need to complete a trainee task record on those individuals that they train and submit that to the VCU Department of Gerontology so that a training certificate can be provided to the trainee.  There will be a $10 fee for this certificate.  The trainers and trainees information will be maintained in a data base which will allow us to track training information and reissue certificates if the need arises in the future.  Yes, there are some up-front costs, but ultimately, this will be a cost savings to you from how we currently provide this training.

Where do we go from here?  The fall VCU training calendar should be coming to you by early August.  This will include the trainer application form.  Trainers can start submitting their applications as soon as this form comes to you.  It will also be available on the VCU website where the trainings are listed.  DSS Licensing is conducting the ISP training with all of the licensing inspectors in early September.  As soon as that training is completed, the curriculum will be released to you.  I will let you know as soon as possible what the cost of the curriculum will be.

I hope that you will find this process to be beneficial.  If you have questions, please feel free to email me.

Thank you, 

Annette S. Kelley, M.S.; C.S.A.C.
Provider Training Consultant
Virginia Department of Social Services
Division of Licensing Programs

Wednesday February 16th

Winter Webinar Training Conference

Wednesday, February 16th 2022, 10 am - 12 pm

The New Normal:  Building a Strong Infection Control Team 
 
As healthcare leaders, we need to take a step back to evaluate our infection control protocol.  And this starts with building the best infection control team.  Topics to be discussed will include the current state of COVID - 19, the fundamentals of effective team building, and evaluations for team success.  A panel of industry professionals will weigh in.  
Participants will receive 2 hours of Continuing Education. 
Registration 
Please note: Registration and payment must be received by the Department of Gerontology prior to the training.  Certificates of attendance will be emailed within a week following the training.  
Please email gercce@vcu.edu with any questions!  

 

*NEW* Training-in-a-Box Program!

We have created a take-home training curriculum to better accommodate community and staff schedules. This training comes with presentation slides, instructor manual and an activity. This is a 6-hour training that can be broken up into sections or completed all at once, depending on your preference. There is a flat-rate of $100 for this training package- this is not a subscription. 

We currently offer the boxes in two topics:

1) Top-10 Violations in Assisted Living Communities. To access this training, please click here! 

2) Trauma Informed Care. To access this training, please click here!

 

Descriptions for each Training-in-a-Box can be found below. 

 

Top-10 Violations in ALF's Training-in-a-Box

We’ve created this training to reduce violations, ensure safety and ultimately promote person-centered care within Virginia Assisted Living Facilities. The information from this presentation can be implemented by staff to improve overall quality of care.

At the end of this training participants will have an increased:

  • Understanding of  the most recent top 10 violations in Assisted Living communities 
  • Ability to identify ways to avoid common violations and repeat violations in their facility
  • Understanding of how person-centered care can improve areas where violations are common

Trauma Informed Care Training-in-a-Box

When trauma occurs, it affects an individual's sense of self, of others, and their experiences of the world within and around them. Trauma informed approaches to care realize the impact that trauma can have on accessing support services and work to create environments that promote resilience and healing. 

Engage throughout five self driven training sessions. Explore, connect, reflect, and question important matters about how adverse life experiences shape the aging process and influence care environments. 

Interested in receiving on-site training at your facility?

Please fill out an On-site Training Request Form

On-site training entails the trainer coming to your facility and facilitating a topic of your community's choice. Topics to choose from are:

-Mental Wellness
-Team Building
-Cultural Competence
-Disrupt Ageism
-Person-Centered Care
-Surplus Safety
-Agitation and Aggression
-Nutritional Needs & Medication Safety

All training topics can be customized to fit your chosen duration of training with a minimum of 1 hour and maximum of 6 hours.

$100 flat rate for on-site training

Certificates provided upon completion of training