This issue brief explores legal issues relating to the regulation and employment of community health workers. It outlines the authority for states to regulate CHWs, describes types of state legislation and activity currently affecting CHWs, and provides considerations for employers utilizing the services of CHWs.
Accompanying CHWs’ professional growth is an evolving area of legislation and regulation as well as legal considerations for employers as they integrate CHWs into their workforce.
States use a variety of methods to regulate health care professionals depending on the nature of the occupation involved. Possible methods—listed below from most restrictive to least restrictive—include licensure, certification, and registration. Two key functions that may be considered in developing a regulatory framework include title regulation (i.e., defining who may use a particular title) and practice regulation (i.e., defining functions that a credentialed practitioner is deemed competent to perform and possibly limiting performance of those functions to credentialed practitioners). Regulation may also be accomplished by requiring members of an occupation to practice under the supervision of another licensed practitioner; this strategy may be coupled with one of the other regulatory frameworks or may stand alone.
