If you read Connecticut Public Act 26-50 and then read the Department of Consumer Protection's training page, you will notice they do not phrase the continuing education requirement the same way. Both are public record. Your agency should know both, and know where each one comes from.
This article summarizes public sources. It is not legal advice.
The statute text
Two provisions in section 1 work together:
Section 1(a)(1)(B) requires each agency to provide annual continuing education to each employee, comprised of programs on DCP's approved list.
Section 1(b), in its final sentence, requires each agency to ensure that every employee completes every program on the approved list at least once every two calendar years.
Read together, the statute text points to a yearly education duty, built from approved-list programs, with a hard outer rule: over any two-calendar-year span, every employee gets through every program on the list.
DCP's page
DCP's Training Requirements page, dated September 30, 2026, says: "At least eight hours of paid annual continuing education must be completed at least once every two calendar years," covering the list's topics.
That phrasing compresses the two statutory sentences into one cycle of at least eight hours per two calendar years.
The two readings, side by side
- The statute text: 8 paid hours annually, plus every approved-list program completed at least once every two calendar years.
- DCP's page: 8 paid hours at least once every two calendar years, covering the listed topics.
These are not the same schedule. The statute's text is the more demanding reading; DCP's published page is the more lenient one. We are not going to tell you which one DCP will enforce on any given day - that is DCP's call to make and publish. The honest approach for an agency is to know both texts, watch DCP's page for updates, and make a considered choice with counsel about which standard to run on.
The list itself is a moving target
Whichever reading you run on, the content of the duty changes as the approved list changes. DCP published the lists on September 30, 2026 with some topics marked "course materials are coming soon," and reviews additional training programs on a rolling basis. A two-calendar-year cycle measured against a growing list is a tracking problem, not a one-time project. The agency that logs completions by program, caregiver, and date can answer "who still needs what" at any moment. The agency that keeps certificates in email attachments cannot.
What counts as a completion
Each completed program gets the DCP-prescribed completion form, signed by the agency and the employee, with the program and dates listed. Those forms, retained by the agency, are the evidence for both the annual duty and the two-calendar-year cycle. Our completion form explainer covers the retention duties.
Where Companza fits
Companza logs every completion against the caregiver, the program, and the date, so the roster's training status is visible from the record instead of rebuilt from inboxes. Companza is a records platform, not a training provider, and not a state agency.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
How often is continuing education required under PA 26-50?
The statute text requires annual continuing education for each employee, and separately requires every employee to complete every program on DCP's approved list at least once every two calendar years. DCP's page describes 8 paid hours at least once every two calendar years. Agencies should know both texts.
Does every employee have to take every program on the approved list?
Under the statute's section 1(b) sentence, yes: every program on the list, at least once every two calendar years, for every employee.
What if DCP's page says something different from the statute?
Both are public record. The statute is the enacted law; DCP's page is the agency's published guidance. Track both, and make a considered choice with counsel about which standard to operate on.
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