California regulates DSP training through the Department of Developmental Services (DDS), operating through its network of 21 regional centers, with the DSP Training (DSPT) program co-administered with the California Department of Education. The mandate applies to direct care staff working in licensed community care facilities that are vendored by a regional center to serve people with developmental disabilities.

The core requirement sits in Welfare & Institutions Code §4695.2, now implemented in Title 17 §56038 (effective May 1, 2026): direct care staff must complete two 35-hour training segments — commonly called Year 1 and Year 2, for 70 hours total — that are "approved by the department." Each segment ends in a competency test, and staff who can already demonstrate competency have one alternative: passing the state-administered Challenge Test for that segment. This is a true certification mandate, not merely a training expectation — completion or test-out is a condition of continued employment in covered facilities.

Because the DSPT sequence itself is the mandate, California imposes no separate blanket annual CE-hour requirement on DSPs under this statute. Ongoing in-service training continues under community care licensing rules and individual regional center vendorization requirements, and facilities remain responsible for orientation and service-specific training outside the DSPT core.

Medication support in covered settings is addressed within the DSPT curriculum and facility licensing rules rather than through a separate statewide DSP medication certification; the DSPT segments include health and medication content as part of the state-approved course of instruction.

The delivery model is the single most important fact for California training buyers: DSPT is state-run. The approved segments are delivered through four regional Service Hubs — county offices of education and Regional Occupational Centers/Programs — and through the state-sanctioned online option at dsptrain.org. There is no vendor-equivalency or crosswalk mechanism, and DDS has put it in writing: "any DSPT certification for a fee is not sanctioned by the state and will not meet the statutory requirement." The only bypass is the state Challenge Test. (A narrower niche exists outside licensed facilities — for example, supported living services agencies follow provider training-plan rules under Title 17's SLS provisions rather than DSPT.)

Training and eTracking Solutions is candid about what that means: no third-party vendor, including TeTS, can sell you DSPT compliance, and any company offering paid "DSPT certification" is selling something DDS has expressly disclaimed. Where TeTS does fit is preparation and everything around the mandate — the TeTS California DSP Year 1 course series is positioned strictly as Challenge Test preparation for experienced staff aiming to test out of a segment, and TeTS supports California agencies with onboarding beyond the DSPT core, supplemental and elective training, and compliance tracking that records each employee's segment completions, test dates, and licensing-driven in-service training in one audit-ready system.