Ohio DSP Training Requirements: What OAC 5123-2-08 Requires and When

If you hire direct support professionals (DSPs) for an Ohio agency certified by the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD), your training calendar runs on one rule: Ohio Administrative Code 5123-2-08, the certification rule for agency providers. The current version took effect September 29, 2024, and its Appendix C spells out what every DSP has to finish and when.

The short version is three checkpoints: training before the first shift, more training within 30 days of hire, and eight hours every year after that. Here is what each one includes, who is exempt, and what your files need to show when DODD or a county board reviews you.

Who this rule covers

Rule 5123-2-08 sets the standards for agency providers of supported living services, including Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS). Under the rule, a DSP is a person at least 18 years old employed in a direct services position, who can read, write and understand English well enough to follow the rules for the services they provide.

Self-employed independent providers are certified under a separate rule, 5123-2-09, and DODD's own compliance training notes extra items for licensed residential facilities, such as fire safety. This post covers agency providers.

Checkpoint 1: Before the first shift

Before a DSP provides any direct services, Appendix C (paragraph A) requires three kinds of training.

Agency orientation, provided or arranged by your agency:

• Your mission, vision, values and organizational structure
• Your policies, procedures and work rules
• An overview of the specific services you provide
• Service documentation that supports billing

DODD curriculum, delivered by the department or by an entity using the department's curriculum:

• Empathy-based care
• The role of a DSP, including the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) code of ethics
• The rights of individuals listed in Ohio Revised Code 5123.62
• Implementing individual service plans and service outcomes
• Recognizing and reporting major unusual incidents (MUIs) and unusual incidents
• Universal precautions for infection control

Person-specific training on the individual service plan of each person the DSP will support, covering what is important to and important for that person. The rule's examples include health and safety, community integration, employment goals, behavioral support strategy, managing the person's funds, and medication administration or delegated nursing needs. DODD's compliance training adds that this training should be updated when there are significant changes to the service plan, and that it must be documented.

The main body of the rule backs this up: paragraph (G)(3) says DSPs must know each person's individual service plan before they start supporting that person.

Checkpoint 2: Within 30 days of hire

Within 30 calendar days of hire, each DSP must complete training provided or arranged by the agency in:

• Person-centered planning and provision of services
• Facilitating community participation and integration
• The parts of the incident rule, OAC 5123-17-02, that apply to the DSP's duties, including a review of DODD's health and welfare alerts
• Empathy-based care

Yes, empathy-based care appears twice. The pre-service module comes from the DODD curriculum, and the 30-day session is agency-provided.

If your agency provides day waiver services, budget for more. DODD's Office of Compliance reminds providers that day-service DSPs need additional training within 30 days of hire, and that staff with less than a year of experience must be assigned a mentor and complete eight hours of training specific to the day service during their first year.

Checkpoint 3: Eight hours every year

Every year, each DSP must complete eight hours split two ways.

Two hours from the DODD curriculum, delivered by the department or an entity using its curriculum, in topics relevant to the DSP's duties, including the NADSP code of ethics, individual rights under ORC 5123.62, and empathy-based care.

Six hours provided or arranged by your agency, covering:

• Recognizing and reporting MUIs and unusual incidents, your agency's own MUI data, and strategies for preventing MUIs
• DODD health and welfare alerts issued since the previous year's training
• Topics you choose from the rule's menu that fit your services and the people you support: components of quality care (for example, communication, cultural competency, person-centered practice, trauma-informed care or empathy-based care), health and safety (for example, signs of illness or injury, or transportation safety), and positive behavioral support (for example, behavioral support strategies, documentation, or crisis intervention techniques)

The whole calendar at a glance

First aid and CPR

Paragraph (J)(2) requires each DSP to hold and maintain valid American Red Cross or equivalent certification in both first aid and CPR, and each must include an in-person skills assessment with an approved trainer. A fully online card without a hands-on skills check does not meet the rule.

Who is exempt

Appendix B carves out DSPs who work exclusively in certain services:

• Money management and remote support: no first aid or CPR certification required, but the Appendix C training still applies.
• Services such as assistive technology, environmental accessibility adaptations, home-delivered meals, interpreter services, nutrition services, social work, specialized medical equipment and supplies, and support brokerage (plus a few others listed in the appendix): no first aid, CPR or Appendix C training. These DSPs still complete DODD-curriculum training on individual rights and the incident rule before providing services, and an annual review of the incident rule and new health and welfare alerts.

The exemptions only apply when a DSP works exclusively in those services. Anyone who also provides other supports follows the full schedule.

Medication administration is a separate certification

Nothing in Appendix C certifies a DSP to give medication. Rule 5123-2-08 bars DSPs from administering medication or performing health-related activities unless they meet separate requirements in state law. For developmental disabilities staff, OAC 5123-6-06 sets the training and certification. The basic course in health-related activities and prescribed medication administration runs at least 14 hours and is delivered by a registered nurse trainer certified by DODD, using a department-approved curriculum. To keep the certification, DSPs complete at least two hours of continuing education each year and a successful return demonstration of skills.

Supervisors, directors of operations, assistants and volunteers

• Supervisors of DSPs must meet the DSP requirements and complete training on their supervisory duties within 90 calendar days of becoming a supervisor.
• Directors of operations complete DODD's web-based orientation before the agency applies for initial certification, or within 30 days of hire at an established agency, plus two hours of DODD web-based training and four hours of self-selected training every year (Appendix A).
• Direct support assistants, who are 16 or 17 years old, must meet the same Appendix C training requirements as DSPs and always work alongside a qualified DSP or supervisor.
• Volunteers who give more than 40 hours a year working directly with people served need training on their role (including the NADSP code of ethics and individual rights), recognizing and reporting incidents, and emergency procedures.

What your files need to show

Paragraph (F) is the part reviewers read closely. Your agency must:

1. Keep a written training plan for directors of operations, supervisors, DSPs, direct support assistants and volunteers. It has to match the needs of the people you serve, best practice, and Appendices A and C.
2. Say how you check competency, such as a written test, a skills demonstration or a supervisor's documented observation.
3. Update the plan at least every 12 months, naming who arranges or provides each training and the projected timelines.
4. Keep a written record of completed training that shows a description of the training, the date, the duration and, when applicable, the instructor's name.

DODD's compliance staff note that a My Learning transcript or a training certificate can serve as the record, as long as it carries those details. DODD also publishes training plan templates for DSPs and supervisors, directors of operations, and volunteers.

One related item is easy to miss because it isn't training: paragraph (E)(5) requires a written notice to every staff member each year explaining the conduct that can lead to placement on Ohio's abuser registry. The same notice must tell supervisors, DSPs and direct support assistants that they have to report to the agency in writing within 14 calendar days if they are charged with, convicted of or plead guilty to certain offenses.

A few habits that make reviews easier

• Run every DSP's clock from the hire date. Pre-service and 30-day items are tied to that date, so a new-hire checklist with both deadlines prevents the most common gaps.
• Treat the eight annual hours as two buckets. Two hours must come from the DODD curriculum and six from the agency. Extra hours in one bucket don't cover a shortfall in the other.
• Fold health and welfare alerts into your calendar. Both the 30-day training and the annual six hours call for a review of DODD alerts, so keeping a running list of alerts since last year's training saves a scramble.
• Retrain when a plan changes. Person-specific training follows the individual service plan, so a significant plan change should trigger new, documented training.
• Store certifications with expiration dates. First aid, CPR and medication administration certifications all lapse if they aren't renewed.

How Training & eTracking can help

Our Ohio compliance pathway tracks the OAC 5123-2-08 requirements for agency-provider DSPs: pre-service orientation and core topics, the 30-day topics, and the eight-hour annual requirement. It follows the state's own rule, so the parts Ohio requires from DODD's curriculum, the MUI modules and medication administration certification are tracked as outside evidence rather than replaced with our courses. Managers can see who is due, who is overdue and what proof is on file before a review, not during one.

You can browse all of our state and accreditation pathways in the TES course catalog.

This article summarizes OAC 5123-2-08 as in effect September 29, 2024, and OAC 5123-6-06 as in effect August 13, 2026. It is not legal advice. Check the current rule text and any DODD guidance before making compliance decisions.