NC S581

Requires adult care homes, nursing homes, and combination homes with special dementia care units to provide mandatory dementia care training to all direct care, administrative, and non-direct care staff within 60 days of hire.

Establishes minimum training curriculum including dementia progression, person-centered care strategies, communication techniques, behavioral symptom management, activity strategies, and safety protocols; requires staff to pass an evaluation demonstrating competency.

Mandates continuing dementia care education with content on best practices; allows training certificates to be portable between facilities if no employment lapse exceeds 24 consecutive months.

Requires dementia care trainers to have at least two years of experience in Alzheimer's disease, dementia, health care, or gerontology and must complete equivalent training with demonstrated competency.

Directs facilities to bear all training costs and provide normal compensation to staff during required training; requires Department inspections beginning January 1, 2018 to verify facility compliance; applies to staff hired on or after October 1, 2017.