Your PCA and You - A Training on Choosing, Managing, and Dismissing a Personal Care Assistant

Aug 30, 2026

Voluntary training for people in Alaska to understand how to choose, manage, and dismiss a personal care assistant (PCA). Covers starting from the beginning: reviewing an approved support plan, identifying what tasks and time expectations the PCA will perform, and ensuring the PCA has required qualifications and documentation. Guides participants through finding potential PCAs safely, preparing for interviews, creating a schedule, and using support-plan details to help the PCA succeed while maintaining clear boundaries and addressing problems or feeling unsafe.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

After you finish this training you should be able to

Knowing your support plan

Who could be a PCA

How to find a PCA

Getting ready to meet in person

- YOUR PERSONAL CARE ASSISTANT (PCA) AND YOU Senior and Disabilities Services Department of Health and Social Services State of Alaska A training to help you learn more about choosing, managing and dismissing your personal care assistant. This is a voluntary training to help you learn more about how to choose, manage and dismiss your personal care assistant. You can take this training if you choose to do so. You can take this training even if you have other (not CFC) services and just want to learn more. This training assumes that you are starting from the beginning– you need to find a personal care assistant (PCA). Even if you already have someone in mind, you will learn more about what the responsibilities are and ways you can help them be successful. You may review this training and decide to use only the parts that seem right to fit your needs. Your personal care assistant is a very important part of how you receive your service. There is a lot you can do to find a PCA and help him or her do a good job for you. To give your care, your PCA needs to be in your home or sometimes helping you while you are in the community. This means that your home becomes the workplace. | After you finish this training you should be able to:
Plan for how you want to find your PCA.
Make a list of interview/meeting questions for your PCA.
Make a list of important things your PCA needs to know .
Make a list of ways to make sure your home is ready for a PCA to work there. Know what you expect your PCA to do.
Know what to do if things aren’t working out.
Know what to do if you feel unsafe. | | --- | | This training is meant to help you learn more about:
1. Knowing your support plan
2. Who could be a PCA
3. How to find a PCA
4. How to choose your PCA
5. What your PCA needs to know to do a good job
6. What you can do to help your PCA be successful
7. What your PCA should and shouldn’t do
8. What to do if you have a problem with your PCA
9. How to get help | Knowing your support plan What is it? Your support plan tells about your services that are approved by the state. You should have a copy of your final approved plan for supports. If you do not have one or you are not sure, ask your care coordinator to give you one. It will list all the services you have. Your plan for support also describes the work your PCA will do to help you. It tells each task and how much time your PCA will likely spend on tasks each week. Why is it important? Your PCA will be paid to do the tasks. He or she needs to know what to do, how to do it and be physically capable of doing it. Your personal care assistant needs tobe able to write down what he or she did to help you. Your PCA should not do other things that are not in your plan while working for you. You should not ask your PCA to do things that are not in your plan. You will know what time of day and for how long you need the help that is written in your plan. This means that you will need to make a schedule for your PCA. You may decide that you need to find more than one PCA, depending on your plan. Who could be a PCA A PCA gets hired and paid by the agency you choose. Your PCA needs to be age 18 or older, able to pass the state and national fingerprint and background check, have current 1st Aid and CPR training, and be physically able to do the work. Your PCA needs to be able to write down the care they have given to you and to fill out basic forms, like a timesheet. If you have a person in mind, you can ask someone you choose to be your PCA. If this person is a family member, generally they cannot also be in charge of making medical or financial decisions for you. The agency can help your PCA get any training they need. The agency can help your PCA if they have questions about what they need to have in order to be hired at the agency. How to find a PCA It takes time to find someone who will be a good match for you. You can look

FAQs

What does a support plan include and why does it matter for a PCA?

A support plan lists approved services and describes the work a PCA will do, including specific tasks and the likely weekly time for each task. It also helps ensure the PCA knows how to do the work and is physically capable of performing it.

Who can be hired as a personal care assistant (PCA)?

A PCA must be at least 18 years old, able to pass state and national fingerprint/background checks, have current First Aid and CPR training (or get the training before working), and be physically able to do the job. The PCA also needs to document care and complete basic forms such as a timesheet.

What are safe ways to find a PCA?

Allow time to find a good match by using community connections and asking friends or family for help during interviews. The training also suggests using flyers on community bulletin boards or placing ads in local media or online networks, but it emphasizes never posting a home address and instead using a phone number or email for contact.

Aug 30, 2026

Upload by Taylor Morgan