Community Health Workers

Certification or Licensing

Community health workers in some states must be certified in order to provide services to clients. Some states operate their own certification programs, while others authorize private providers to create and run the program. The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials reports that nearly 25 states have state-operated or privately operated certification programs. Visit https://www.astho.org/topic/brief/state-approaches-to-community-health-worker-certification for a list of current programs.

Some community health workers choose to receive voluntary certification from the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. The commission offers the certified health education specialist and master certified health education specialist credentials to applicants who meet educational and experience requirements and pass an examination. Visit https://www.nchec.org/certification-exams for more information on these credentials.