State Home Health Aide (HHA)

State Home Health Aide (HHA) is a government license: the legal permission to practise, granted by the state (or national) licensing board. Without it the work is illegal, however skilled the worker.

It proves that the holder has been examined against a published standard — knowledge on a written exam, a practical or clinical examination, and the required clock hours — and has met the standard of the state (or national) licensing board.

At VoTechWorks the credential is earned inside the programs that carry it (Gerontology / Elder Care Aide): the universal core, one competency course per curriculum area with a written exam, an observed skills demonstration and a signed log each, a capstone, an externship or clinical practicum, then exam preparation and the credential exam itself, sat at the school's authorized testing center or the body's own site.

It leads to entry-level employment in Health & Personal Services, counts toward the next credential on the stackable pathway, and is the first line on the résumé an employer reads.

Renewed on the board's cycle (typically every 1–2 years) with continuing-education hours.