The Community Health Aide Program Certification Board (CHAPCB), created the BHA curriculum through a statewide collaboration with members of the behavioral health and substance use community in 2008. The curriculum was created to develop BHA knowledge and skills at four levels of service provision and was designed to build upon the skill of the previous level of practice. In 2020 the Behavioral Health Academic Review Committee (BHARC) undertook the task of reviewing and updating the curriculum and submitted a revision request to the CHAPCB to amend the BHA curriculum.  The table below outlines the curriculum changes which resulted in an increase in hours for BHA I and BHA II and a reduction in hours for BHA III and BHA/P.

BHA Curriculum Revision

BHARC recommended, and CHAPCB approved, a two year grandfathering period to ensure all students have adequate time to complete their training. The grandfathering period started on November 1, 2021 and will continue through November 1, 2023.

BHAs currently seeking certification at the BHA I and II levels will be grandfathered under the old contact hour requirements until November 1, 2023. If application for certification is made after the November 1, 2023 deadline, BHAs will be required to take the additional hours of training at their level of certification.

BHAs seeking certification at the BHA III and P levels have already experienced a reduction in the course contact hour requirement.

If you have questions about how your certification plan might be impacted, please contact the BHA Program at bhaprogram@anthc.org.