Quick Answer
Complete 75-hour Home Care Aide training (unless exempt), AFH Administrator Training, CPR, First Aid, and Food Safety; pass DSHS background checks for yourself, household members, and staff; have the home pass a local building inspection against the WABO checklist; assemble the Caregiver Experience Attestation (DSHS 10-417), training certificates, liability insurance proof, Disclosure of Services (DSHS 10-508), and a floor plan of each level; then apply through the DSHS BAAU portal. A DSHS licensor inspects the home before the license is issued. Annual renewal is $450 per bed.
DSHS licenses the provider and the home together. The training and background-check pieces can be done while a building is being brought up to code, and applicants who run those tracks in parallel are the ones who open on schedule.
75 hours of DSHS-approved training followed by the certification exam and Department of Health credential. Exemptions exist for RNs, LPNs, CNAs, Medicare-certified home health aides, and certain long-term care workers employed between January 1, 2011 and January 6, 2012.
Required for the provider, every household member, and all staff, through DSHS. Disqualifying crimes are defined in WAC 388-113.
Apply at baau.dshs.wa.gov. Avoid the characters &, =, +, and # in form fields; they cause submission errors. There is no fixed processing timeline. A passed local building inspection must be in hand before the DSHS inspection can be completed.
Buying an existing home requires a complete new application. The prior license does not transfer and there is no abbreviated CHOW process.
The provider or entity representative, every adult household member, and all caregiving staff.
Only if you hold a listed exemption — RN, LPN, CNA, Medicare-certified home health aide, or a qualifying long-term care work history — with proof.
About the author: David Stein is a Washington State licensed real estate broker (eXp Realty, license #133972) and a Washington State certified residential appraiser (Stein Appraisal, license #1702080), with more than 20 years of experience in both disciplines. More about David.
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