Community Health Worker (CHW) Certification
For Delaware Residents
Why Get Certified?
- Understanding the standards of care helps CHWs reach their full potential.
- Certification establishes credibility and strengthens your reputation within the health care community.
- It improves compensation and working conditions for CHWs.
- It’s available at no cost to you!
Already a Community Health Worker?
Get certified at no cost.
As a CHW, your work goes further. And a certification enables you to provide consistent care as well as advance your career and education. With a CHW certification, everyone benefits.
For Delaware Employers
Why encourage certification for current Community Health Workers?
There is great value in promoting voluntary certification of CHWs. Voluntary certification not only defines scope and standards for CHWs in Delaware but also ensures that CHWs focus on nonclinical social determinants of health.
Certification can provide specific modules, such as trauma-informed care or opioid awareness and prevention, to advance population health as part of the curriculum or recertification requirements. We believe that without such standardization, it is less likely for CHWs to reach their full potential in the Delaware health care continuum.
Payers, hospitals, health systems, community partners, providers, and CHWs themselves all see the value of standard training and voluntary certification, which can create a unique workforce and has been shown to improve health outcomes while reducing health care costs.
What can a Community Health Worker do for my business?
A CHW can offer a truly personal connection to help patients navigate complicated health care and social services systems, but there are also proven benefits to employers.
- For every dollar invested in CHW programs, there is a proven return on investment (ROI) ranging from $1.80 to $2.47.*
- Integrating CHWs into a health care team reduces ED visits, hospitalizations, and nursing home placements.
- CHWs help community-based organizations maintain focus on the health of the people they serve.
*Kangovi, S., Mitra, N., Grande D., Long, J.A., D.A. (2020). “Evidence-Based Community Health Worker Program Addresses Unmet Social Needs and Generates Positive Return on Investment.” Health Affairs: 39 (2).
Get Certified
Complete your certification application and track its progress in our CHW training app, CHECK. Log in or create a free account to submit your application.
- Applicants must be at least 18 years old.
- Applicants must agree to follow the CHW Code of Ethics.
- Fees are paid via scholarships through the generosity of ChristianaCare, Delaware’s Division of Public Health, and Delaware Health Force.
The form is available in English and Spanish via CHECK. Haitian-Creole assistance is available.
El formulario está disponible a través de CHECK en inglés y español.
Please email hello@chwadelaware.org with translation requests.
Option 1
Standard Pathway
The applicant shows their training certificate from an accepted agency* along with their application.
The applicant must provide a copy of their certificate of completion from an accepted training vendor, showing they completed a CHW core competency training program.
The training must have been completed by one of the accepted training vendors as noted on the application. No other training courses are acceptable.
Option 2
Legacy Pathway
Applicants who are currently working or worked or volunteered a minimum of 2,000 hours as a Community Health Worker within the five years prior to the completion of this application, providing services within the specific domains.
Qualifying work experience can be from multiple organizations accumulate the required years/hours.
For each employer, you will be asked to provide contact information for your employer. They will be contacted to verify the details you provide.
*Training programs accepted at this time:
- chwCORE at Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC)
- Delaware Technical Community College, Community Health Worker Certificate Program
- Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI), Community Health Worker Core Skills Competency Training
- Penn Center for Community Health Workers, IMPaCT
If you manage a training program and are interested in applying to be an approved CHW Core Skills Training vendor, please click here.
Community Health Education, Connection, & Knowledge
Our CHW training and certification platform, CHECK, was developed by the Delaware Division of Public Health. This tool serves as a centralized location for Delaware’s Community Health Worker’s to manage their training, certification status, and professional development.
In order to apply for certification, you’ll be prompted to register for a CHECK account. If you already have an account, you can log in to get started.
