BACKGROUND Spotlight Overview
SUMMARY Effective training is a key step in preparing staff for success in the workplace and is critically important to maintaining high-quality care and a more stable workforce. 1 Incidents of abuse and neglect can occur when staff are not trained in all aspects of supporting people receiving services. When an incident does occur, training or re-training is a frequent corrective action implemented by providers to address the situation and prevent a similar situation in the future. However, when conducting Corrective Action Plan (CAP) audits involving training as a corrective action, the Justice Center often finds the method, approach or timeliness is insufficient, which reduces its potential to affect positive change.
In 2025, the Justice Center assessed nearly 1,600 corrective actions and found that approximately 25% were insufficient related to staff training , including: f Staff not being trained on plans of care for people receiving services f Staff not being trained on topics required by provider licensing agencies f Staff not being trained in a timely manner following an incident
f Providers lacking the ability to identify staff who are absent when trainings are offered f Providers lacking a system or policy to delineate staff roles for the oversight of staff training
Recognizing that effective training of agency staff is a key step in prevention, the Justice Center, in collaboration with feedback from the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, the Office of Mental Health, the Office of Addiction Services and Supports, the Office of Children and Family Services, and the State Education Department has created the following toolkit to provide information and resources that help provider agencies train staff who care for people receiving services. Content in this toolkit is based on common themes and trends identified during investigations where lack of training or awareness about a particular protocol may have contributed to an abuse or neglect incident. After reading this toolkit, providers will come away with the tools needed to create effective training policies/procedures and run impactful training programs that help staff provide quality support to people receiving services. This toolkit is intended to serve as a guide and may be modified as needed. It does not address every scenario that could occur and does not constitute legal advice or replace or supersede any regulatory or certification requirements instituted by oversight agencies or certification/licensing bodies.
1 The National Library of Medicine, Direct Care Staff Training Standards and Educational Interventions in Long-Term Care, December 21, 2025: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12760446/
Spotlight on Prevention Best Practices for Training Agency Staff 2
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator