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How can a provider organization deliver state-required DSP training hours online?

Short answer: Start from your state’s own rule, not from a course catalog. The rule tells you which topics are required, by when, who must provide some of them, how staff show competency and which records you keep. Then map each requirement to a source: the state’s curriculum where the rule names one, an online course where the rule lets you choose, and supervised practice or an observed skill check where the rule asks for it. Keep a record of every completion. Rules differ a great deal: Ohio requires part of each direct support professional’s annual training to come from the state’s own curriculum, while Minnesota requires orientation that combines supervised on-the-job training with instruction.

Special Learning · Published November 12, 2026 · Sources read November 12, 2026

Seven steps that work in any state.

Step by step

  1. Find your rule. Ask your state’s developmental disabilities agency (find it in the NASDDDS directory) which rule applies to your license or certification and services.
  2. Build a requirement map. One row per required topic: when it is due (before working alone, within a set number of days, every year), the required source if any, the hours if stated, how competency is shown, and the record you keep.
  3. Use the state’s curriculum where the rule names one.
  4. Choose online courses for the rest, and confirm they count. Ask your state agency or licensor in writing, and bring each course’s syllabus, session lengths and how completion is shown.
  5. Pair knowledge with practice. Schedule the supervised on-the-job training, person-specific training and in-person skill checks your rule calls for.
  6. Keep the records. Description, date, duration, trainer and competency result for every staff member.
  7. Review the plan every year, and whenever your state changes its rule.

Read November 12, 2026, from each state’s published rule. Your state’s rule may differ.

Two state examples

Ohio: certified agency providers (Ohio Adm. Code 5123-2-08, Appendix C)Minnesota: 245D license holders (Minn. Stat. 245D.09)
Before workingAgency training (mission, policies, services, documentation for billing); department curriculum on empathy-based care, the DSP role including the NADSP Code of Ethics, rights, carrying out service plans, incident reporting and universal precautions; and training on each person’s plan.Maltreatment reporting orientation within 72 hours of first providing direct contact services; orientation to each person’s needs before unsupervised contact (subd. 4a).
Early deadlinesWithin 30 calendar days of hire: person-centered planning, community participation and integration, health and welfare alerts, empathy-based care.Within 60 calendar days of hire: orientation that “combines supervised on-the-job training with review of and instruction in” listed areas, from job functions and data privacy to person-centered planning and first aid.
Every yearTwo hours from department curriculum (including the NADSP Code of Ethics), plus six hours “provided or arranged by the agency provider,” including topics relevant to the people served such as components of quality care, health and safety, and positive behavioral support.Annual training on the topics in subdivision 4, clauses (3) to (11); it may be delayed up to 90 calendar days.
Showing competencyThe training plan names the method, “e.g., written test, skills demonstration, or documented observation by supervisor.” First aid and CPR certifications include an in-person skills assessment.“Knowledge testing or observed skill assessment conducted by the trainer or instructor.”
Plan and recordsA written plan updated at least once every twelve months; records of description, date, duration and, when applicable, the instructor’s name.A staff orientation and training plan (subd. 8); training from other sources in the same subjects within 12 months before hire may count, with documentation (subd. 5a).

The parts a rule leaves to the provider.

Where online courses fit

Online courses carry the knowledge parts best: topics a rule lets the provider choose or arrange, refreshers, and depth for the people a team supports. In Ohio, for example, the six annual hours “provided or arranged by the agency provider” include topics “relevant to services provided and people served,” and positive behavioral support is one of the listed areas. Whether a particular course counts toward a particular requirement is your state’s call, so ask before you rely on it.

Frequently asked

Questions training leads ask.

Can DSP training hours be completed online?

Often in part, depending on your state’s rule. Some topics must come from a state curriculum (in Ohio, from the department or an entity using department-provided curriculum), and some rules call for supervised on-the-job training or an observed skill check (Minnesota). Ask your state developmental disabilities agency which parts can be completed online.

How do we document DSP training hours for a state review?

Keep what your rule asks for. Ohio asks for a description of each training, its date, its duration and, when applicable, the instructor’s name, a training plan updated at least every twelve months, and the method used to establish competency. Minnesota asks for a staff orientation and training plan and documentation of competency.

Does training from another provider count toward our requirements?

In some states, yes. In Minnesota, orientation or training from other sources in the same subjects may count if received in the 12 months before the staff person’s hire date, with documentation of the training and the person’s competency. Check your own state’s rule.

Will Special Learning’s course count toward our state’s required hours?

Your state agency or licensor decides what counts, so ask them with the course facts: nine recorded sessions of about 45 minutes to just over 2 hours each, a 10-question pre-test and 20-question post-test for every session, a final exam, and a certificate of completion when a learner passes the final exam at 80%. We are glad to put these facts in writing for your request.

Sources

Each source was read on November 12, 2026. Providers and states change their pages and rules, so check the current version before you rely on it.

  1. NASDDDS, “State Agencies” (directory of state developmental disabilities agencies), https://www.nasddds.org/state-agencies/
  2. Ohio Administrative Code 5123-2-08, Appendix C, Training requirements for direct support professionals, https://codes.ohio.gov/assets/laws/administrative-code/pdfs/5123/0/2/5123-2-08_PH_FF_A_APP3_20240919_1204.pdf
  3. Ohio Administrative Code 5123-2-08, Provider certification: agency providers (effective September 29, 2024), https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-administrative-code/rule-5123-2-08
  4. Minnesota Statutes, section 245D.09, Staffing standards, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/245D.09