Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
Act 435 of the Regular Session
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State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H2/13/25 S3/18/25 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1258 3
4
By: Representative L. Johnson 5
By: Senator Irvin 6
7
For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO CREATE THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER ACT; TO 9
ESTABLISH A STATEWIDE CERTIFICATION FOR COMMUNITY 10
HEALTH WORKERS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 11
12
13
Subtitle 14
TO CREATE THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER 15
ACT; AND TO ESTABLISH A STATEWIDE 16
CERTIFICATION FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH 17
WORKERS. 18
19
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 20
21
SECTION 1. Arkansas Code Title 17, is amended to add an additional 22
chapter to read as follows: 23
CHAPTER 46 24
25
COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER ACT 26
27
Subchapter 1 - General Provisions 28
29
17-46-101. Title. 30
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Community Health 31
Worker Act”. 32
33
17-46-102. Definitions. 34
As used in this chapter: 35
(1) "Community health worker" means an individual who is a 36 As Engrossed: H2/13/25 S3/18/25 HB1258
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trusted member of or has an unusually close understanding of the community 1
that he or she is serving as a liaison, link, or intermediary between health 2
services or social services and the community to facilitate access to health 3
services or social services and to improve the quality and cultural 4
competence of the services delivered; 5
(2) “Health benefit plan” means an individual, blanket, or any 6
group plan, policy, or contract for healthcare services issued or delivered 7
in this state by a healthcare insurer, health maintenance organization, 8
hospital medical service corporation, or self -insured governmental or church 9
plan in this state; 10
(3) "Healthcare professional" means a person who is licensed, 11
certified, or otherwise authorized by the laws of this state to administer 12
health care in the ordinary course of the practice of his or her profession; 13
and 14
(4) "Healthcare provider" means: 15
(A) A hospital; 16
(B) An ambulatory surgical center; 17
(C) A primary care center; 18
(D) An outpatient psychiatric center; 19
(E) A home healthcare agency; 20
(F) A skilled nursing facility; or 21
(G) An individual licensed to render covered healthcare 22
services. 23
24
Subchapter 2 - Certifications 25
26
17-46-201. Community health worker — Certification. 27
(a) The Department of Health shall issue a certification to be a 28
community health worker to an individual who: 29
(1) Is eighteen (18) years of age or older; 30
(2) Meets one (1) of the following requirements: 31
(A) He or she is certified as a community health worker by 32
the Arkansas Community Health Worker Association; 33
(B) He or she has worked as a community health worker for 34
two (2) years with one (1) in this state and successfully completes a 35
community health worker training program consisting of one hundred twenty 36 As Engrossed: H2/13/25 S3/18/25 HB1258
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(120) hours of core competency, including eighty (80) hours of didactic 1
training and forty (40) hours of guided field practice from a school or 2
training program approved by the Arkansas Community Health Worker Association 3
in consultation with the department ; 4
(C) He or she has worked as a community health worker for 5
one (1) year within this state and has met the following requirements as 6
outlined by the Arkansas Community Health Worker Association: 7
(i) Successfully completed eighty (80) hours of 8
supplemental training that supports core competency and professional 9
development; 10
(ii) Been assigned a mentor who is a certified 11
community health worker in this state or is eligible for certification and 12
regularly accessed and communicated with the mentor at least two (2) times 13
per month during the first three (3) months of the mentorship and monthly 14
thereafter; and 15
(iii) Been assigned a supervisor who has completed 16
community health worker supervisor training and regularly accessed and 17
communicated with the supervisor at least two (2) times per week during the 18
first three (3) months of supervision and weekly for the remainder of the 19
year; or 20
(D) He or she has four (4) years of experience that 21
provides evidence of proficiency in the core competencies, with two (2) years 22
of experience being in this state; and 23
(3) Submits an application with an application fee of fifty 24
dollars ($50.00). 25
(c)(1) A certification is valid for two (2) years after the date of 26
issuance. 27
(2) To renew a certification, a community health worker shall: 28
(A) Complete twenty (20) hours of professional 29
developmental and training related to core competencies of a community health 30
worker within the two -year period; and 31
(B) Submit a renewal application with a renewal 32
application fee as determined by the department, in consultation with the 33
Arkansas Community Health Worker Association. 34
(d) The Arkansas Community Health Worker Association, in conjunction 35
with the Division of Higher Education, shall create and maintain a registry 36 As Engrossed: H2/13/25 S3/18/25 HB1258
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of approved community health worker training programs to be made available to 1
the public. 2
3
17-46-202. Suspension, revocation, nonissuance, or nonrenewal. 4
(a) The Department of Health may suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue 5
or renew the certification of a community health worker for: 6
(1) Securing a certification under this chapter through fraud or 7
deceit; 8
(2) Unethical conduct, gross ignorance, or inefficiency in the 9
conduct of his or her practice; 10
(3) Using a false name or an alias in his or her practice; 11
(4) Violating any provision of this chapter; or 12
(5) Failing to comply with any of the requirements for issuance 13
of the certification. 14
(b) Proceedings under this section shall comply with the Arkansas 15
Administrative Procedure Act, § 25 -15-201 et seq. 16
17
Subchapter 3 - Miscellaneous Provisions 18
19
17-46-301. Scope of practice. 20
A community health worker shall perform only the following types of 21
services: 22
(1) Providing: 23
(A) Cultural mediation among individuals, communities, and 24
health service systems or social services systems, or both; 25
(B) Culturally appropriate health education and 26
information; 27
(C) Care coordination, including without limitation 28
medication compliance under a patient care plan as directed by a healthcare 29
provider or healthcare professional; 30
(D) Case management; 31
(E) Health service system navigation or social services 32
system navigation, or both; 33
(F) Coaching and social support; and 34
(G) Direct services that: 35
(i) In order to be performed, do not require a 36 As Engrossed: H2/13/25 S3/18/25 HB1258
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professional license under subtitle 3 of this title or specialized training 1
under § 20-77-2301 et seq., such as first aid and diabetic foot checks; or 2
(ii) Are not met by a personal care attendant; 3
(2) Advocating for individuals and communities; 4
(3) Building individual and community capacity; 5
(4) Implementing individual and community assessments, including 6
without limitation: 7
(A) Basic home environmental assessments; and 8
(B) Basic health screening and tests; 9
(5) Conducting outreach, such as health literacy services; and 10
(6) Participating in evaluation and research, including without 11
limitation health education and community research activities. 12
13
17-46-302. Patient and personal data and information. 14
(a) Patient and personal data and information accessed or attained by 15
a community health worker is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of 16
Information Act of 1967, § 25 -19-101 et seq., and is confidential and 17
privileged as otherwise required by federal law. 18
(b) If a community health worker does not maintain the confidential 19
and privileged nature of the patient data or information, the community 20
health worker shall be subject to any penalty under state and federal law for 21
a breach of confidential patient data or information. 22
23
17-46-303. Community health worker compensation. 24
A community health worker certified under this chapter shall receive 25
compensation for services provided from: 26
(1) The Arkansas Medicaid Program; or 27
(2) A health benefit plan. 28
29
17-46-304. Rules. 30
The Department of Health may promulgate rules relating to the 31
certification and regulation of community health workers under this 32
subchapter. 33
34
/s/L. Johnson 35
APPROVED: 4/3/25 36