Yes. At least half of your renewal hours have to be live.
Health and Safety Code section 1569.616(f)(1) says no more than one half of the 40 hours of continuing education may be satisfied through self-paced courses. Everything else has to be completed in an instructional setting that is conducive to learning and where participants can interact with each other and with the instructor at the same time. In practice that means a maximum of 20 self-paced hours and a minimum of 20 live hours in every two year renewal period.
Live does not mean you have to drive somewhere
The requirement is simultaneous interaction, not a physical room. A live class taught online, where you and the other students can see and speak with the instructor and with each other in real time, meets the standard. What does not meet it is anything you click through alone on your own schedule. That is the self-paced half, and it is capped.
Some courses do not count at all
No matter how they are delivered. Title 22 section 87407(c)(2) says home study and correspondence type courses are not counted, because they are not interactive by design. Section 87407(c)(3) says retaking the 80 hour Initial Certification Training Program does not count either, since that program is built for new administrators. And under section 87407(c)(4), the same specific course can only be counted once per renewal period, so repeating a class you already took last year does not add hours.
Two more rules that shape your schedule
The state will not count more than 10 hours of instruction in a single day, in class or online or both combined, under section 87407(c)(1). And every hour has to come from a course approved by the Department for RCFE administrators under section 87407(b). An approved provider issues you a certificate of completion that the Administrator Certification Section will accept. A course that was never approved is 40 hours of your life you cannot use.
The simplest way through this
Take all 40 hours live with one approved provider and never worry about the split. NCPI’s 40 hour RCFE and ARF renewal course is taught live on Zoom by CDSS approved vendor 2000778, with real interaction, and it includes the required dementia, laws and regulations, and cultural competency hours. It is $239.99, or $199 for returning students, the lowest price in California, and our family has been doing this for 30 years. Call or text 619-322-9578 or email contact@ncpicare.com to get on the next class.
