Direct support training in Arizona is governed by the Department of Economic Security's Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) for Qualified Vendor agencies, with the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) owning the separate Direct Care Worker (DCW) training and testing program used for attendant care and ALTCS services. Between them, these two agencies standardize most of what an Arizona IDD provider's direct support staff must complete.

For DDD Qualified Vendor staff, the anchor requirement is Article 9 training — instruction on the rights of individuals and prohibited practices under Arizona Administrative Code R6-6, Article 9 — which concludes with a certification test. Staff who provide behavior support also complete the state's prevention-and-intervention curriculum: the longstanding Prevention & Support course, which DDD is in the process of replacing with its new PROUD curriculum. CPR and First Aid from nationally recognized providers round out the core.

Attendant care and ALTCS direct care workers fall under the AHCCCS DCW program: workers must pass standardized testing — 80% on the knowledge exam and 100% on the skills evaluation — generally within 90 days, with training built on the Principles of Caregiving curriculum (Fundamentals and developmental disabilities modules). AHCCCS maintains equivalencies for credentialed workers such as CNAs, who can bypass DCW testing.

Medication and behavior-related items follow the same state-standardized pattern: Article 9 governs the boundaries around rights restrictions and prohibited techniques, and DDD's Behavior Supports Manual sets out when the state curricula (Prevention & Support / PROUD) are required for staff implementing behavior plans.

The delivery model is the critical detail for training buyers: Article 9 and Prevention & Support/PROUD may only be taught by DDD-certified trainers using the standard curriculum provided by DDD — no changes or substitute curricula are allowed. Delivery is distributed (approved third parties and vendor agencies conduct classes), but the courseware itself is state-locked. The DCW side is more open by design: any entity, including a private training company, can apply to AHCCCS to become an Approved Training and Testing Program operating on the state's framework. There is no single-vendor lock anywhere in the system, but there is also no pathway to substitute a third-party curriculum for Article 9 or PROUD.

Training and eTracking Solutions supports Arizona providers where the system is open: onboarding and supplemental DSP coursework beyond the state-locked core, and — just as important for Qualified Vendors — compliance tracking that treats Article 9, PROUD, CPR/First Aid, and DCW testing as externally earned milestones with expiration dates, so an agency can prove at audit exactly which staff are current. Providers pursuing the AHCCCS DCW route can also pair TeTS coursework with the state's approved-program framework for knowledge preparation.