Kentucky · home health aide (HHA)
How to become a home health aide in Kentucky: the routes that qualify you, who regulates home health agencies in Kentucky, pay, free training options, and all 16 state-approved CNA programs, since a CNA certification also qualifies you as a home health aide.
Your route
Home health agencies in Kentucky are licensed by the Kentucky Office of Inspector General. Medicare and Medicaid agencies must use aides who completed one of the federally approved routes. These are the two most common.
Fastest route
CNA
Agency route
75 hrs
Why we list CNA programs: under federal rules, a state-approved CNA program plus good standing on the Kentucky nurse aide registry qualifies you as a home health aide. It’s the route that opens the most doors. See our Kentucky CNA guide.
The steps
The general path for most new aides.
Keep your hours up. Federal rules require at least 12 hours of in-service training a year, and if you go 24 months in a row without paid aide work, you must retrain.
Home health aide vs. CNA
The two jobs overlap, but the settings and pay differ.
| Home health aide | CNA | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you work | Clients’ homes, through home health and hospice agencies | Nursing homes and hospitals |
| Training | 75 hours federal minimum, or a CNA certification | State-approved CNA program |
| Official record | Your agency’s training and competency records | The Kentucky nurse aide registry |
| Median pay (KY) | $17.52 an hour* | $18.45 an hour |
*Federal pay data groups home health aides with personal care aides. About 31,260 of them work in Kentucky.
Help paying
Ways to cover the cost of training.
Many home health agencies train aides they hire, and nursing homes that hire you can’t charge you for CNA training under federal rules.
Directory
All 16 programs from our Kentucky CNA guide. Finishing one, passing the exam, and staying in good standing on the state registry also qualifies you as a home health aide for Medicare and Medicaid agencies.
| Program | City | County | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashland Community & Technical College | Ashland | Boyd | (606) 326-2464 |
| Big Sandy Community & Technical College | Prestonsburg | Floyd | (606) 886-3863 |
| Bluegrass Community & Technical College | Lexington | Fayette | (859) 246-6217 |
| Elizabethtown Community & Technical College | Elizabethtown | Hardin | (270) 706-8464 |
| Gateway Community & Technical College | Florence | Boone | (859) 442-1196 |
| Hazard Community & Technical College | Hazard | Perry | (606) 487-3382 |
| Henderson Community College | Henderson | Henderson | (270) 831-9647 |
| Hopkinsville Community College | Hopkinsville | Christian | (270) 707-3848 |
| Jefferson Community & Technical College | Louisville | Jefferson | (502) 213-3664 |
| Madisonville Community College | Madisonville | Hopkins | (270) 824-1810 |
| Maysville Community & Technical College | Maysville | Mason | (606) 301-6144 |
| Owensboro Community & Technical College | Owensboro | Daviess | (270) 686-3797 |
| Somerset Community College | Somerset | Pulaski | (606) 451-6813 |
| Southcentral Kentucky Community & Technical College | Bowling Green | Warren | (270) 901-1202 |
| Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College | Cumberland | Harlan | (606) 248-2159 |
| West Kentucky Community & Technical College | Paducah | McCracken | (270) 534-3888 |
Tip: ask each program whether it also offers a home health aide add-on. For details, costs, and exam steps, see our Kentucky CNA guide.
FAQ
Short answers to what people ask most.
Home health aides in Kentucky work for home health agencies licensed by the Kentucky Office of Inspector General. Medicare and Medicaid agencies must hire aides who meet the federal training and competency rules. Ask the agency you're applying to which credential it requires.
The two most common routes are completing a 75-hour home health aide training and competency evaluation, or becoming a CNA. Federal rules count a CNA in good standing on the Kentucky nurse aide registry as a qualified home health aide.
The median pay for home health and personal care aides in Kentucky is $17.52 an hour, about $36,440 a year, based on the May 2025 federal wage survey. Kentucky CNAs earn a median $18.45 an hour.
Yes, for Medicare and Medicaid home health agencies, if the CNA completed a state-approved program and is listed in good standing on the state nurse aide registry.
Yes. Federal rules require at least 12 hours of in-service training every 12 months for aides at Medicare and Medicaid agencies.