Agencies and Providers
An opportunity to advance your workforce.
Does your agency need additional direct care professionals to support the community you serve? Are you interested in boosting the skills of your staff? The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has an exciting opportunity to expand and support your direct care workforce—at no charge to you.
Free direct caregiver training and professional designation
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, has developed a free, standardized training program through WisCaregiver Careers to help caregivers become certified direct care professionals (CDCP). Here’s how it works.
- Participants will complete a free, approximately 30-hour training and testing program online at their own pace. They will gain more than a dozen valuable skills as they progress through the curriculum, which was created after an extensive amount of research and stakeholder input. DHS and its academic partner, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, also conducted national research on core competencies for direct care workers and conducted listening sessions with stakeholders and direct care workers.
- After successfully completing the program, participants will automatically join the certified direct care professional registry to connect with employers throughout Wisconsin.
- New CDCPs will receive a $250 bonus upon hire or by continuing to work with an eligible agency. When they stay employed by an eligible agency for six months, they’ll get an additional $250 retention bonus.
WisCaregiver Connections workforce platform
Our workforce platform is a one-stop career resource for employers and job seekers. We are now recruiting providers and agencies to be included in the provider registry component of the platform. Your presence will make it easy for CDCPs to find and connect with you after completing their training. The platform will allow you to:
- Post job openings
- Automatically match with job seekers
- Screen candidate profiles and credentialing details
When you register, we will confirm your eligibility to participate in the CDCP bonus program. As an eligible provider, your current staff can pursue their CDCP designation and receive the bonuses, too!
Provider/agency eligibility requirements:
Eligible providers/agencies are those that serve HCBS participants enrolled in these programs:
- Children’s Long-Term Support Program
- Family Care
- Family Care Partnership
- IRIS (Include, Respect, I Self-Direct)
- Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)
Fee-for-service (FFS) providers who serve HCBS participants are also eligible.
Plus, eligible providers/agencies employ workers in these settings:
- Home and community-based services (HCBS)
- Nonmedical in-home care – one-on-one care (IRIS)
- 1-2 bed adult family home
- 3-4 bed adult family home
- Community-based residential care facilities (CBRF)
- Certified residential care apartment complexes (RCAC)
Becoming a Certified Direct Care Professional
See how the Certified Direct Care Professional (CDCP) program can help you start a career in health care.
When you click the red button below, the UW-Green Bay CDCP employer application form will open in a new browser tab.
Simply complete the form to register as a WisCaregiver Careers CDCP employer.
Let us know! What training and resources would help you?
We are interested in incorporating your ideas and suggestions into our program. Please take a moment to complete our survey for agencies and providers.
Watch the videos above to learn how the certified direct care professional (CDCP) program can help you start a career in health care.
Contact us:
We look forward to partnering with you on these efforts to strengthen Wisconsin’s direct care workforce.
WisCaregiver Careers is a free professional workforce advancement program offered by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services in partnership with the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay.
If you have questions about this program, contact us.