​​​​​​​Continuing Education Requirements for Assisted Living Directors Clarified by BELTSS

The Board of Executives for Long-Term Services and Supports (BELTSS) affirmed that the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) continuing education for directors of assisted living with dementia care is required by 144G, not the rules for licensed assisted living directors administered by BELTSS.

Last week at the LeadingAge Minnesota Assisted Living Conference session by BELTSS, the question was raised about the continuing education (CE) requirement for assisted living directors of facilities licensed as assisted living with dementia care (ALDC).

The statutory requirement

The statute (144G.82, Subd. 2) requires that the assisted living director of an assisted living facility with dementia care “complete and document that at least ten hours of the required annual continuing educational requirements related to the care of individuals with dementia. The training must include medical management of dementia, creating and maintaining supportive and therapeutic environments for residents with dementia, and transitioning and coordinating services for residents with dementia. Continuing education credits may include college courses, preceptor credits, self-directed activities, course instructor credits, corporate training, in-service training, professional association training, web-based training, correspondence courses, telecourses, seminars, and workshops.”

LeadingAge Minnesota clarified this question in 2022 with MDH. This week, BELTSS staff confirmed with them that the ten CEs required must be earned within the two-year span required for the BELTSS CE requirements rather than annually. These are 144G, not BELTSS, requirements and have been defined by MDH as follows:

• Do all hours for the ten required CEs referenced in 144G.82 need to be continuing education credits approved through the BELTSS licensing board? MDH has determined that for this requirement, the concern is for the content, and the CE does not need to be BELTSS-approved. The licensee must maintain documentation of the training and how it met the required content.
• The continuing education requirement for LALDs is 30 hours every two years – is the 10 hours per year or based on the LALD requirement of the 30 within two years? After consideration, MDH has clarified that they will expect the ten hours of listed criteria within the two-year licensing cycle.

MDH is working on an FAQ to be added to their website. This LALD requirement is in addition to the dementia training required for all assisted living staff found in 144G.64 and for staff of ALDC-licensed facilities located in Rule 4659.0190.

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