Direct support professional training in Montana is governed by the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) through its Developmental Disabilities Program (DDP), part of the Developmental Services Division. The requirements are laid out in the Provider Manual for the 0208 comprehensive HCBS waiver, whose training grids apply across waiver service types.

The manual's grids sequence a new DSP's first months: a background check, training on abuse/neglect, incident reporting, and confidentiality within 30 days of hire, First Aid and CPR within 30 days, and training specific to each Personal Support Plan (PSP) within 30 days. The centerpiece requirement follows: completion of College of Direct Supports (CDS) Tier 1 within six months of hire. CDS Tier 1 is named as the required core curriculum in every service grid of the manual.

After the first year, Montana requires 12 hours of training annually for direct support staff. The manual does not prescribe the content of those 12 hours the way it prescribes the core, which leaves the annual cycle as the open portion of Montana's training landscape.

Medication is governed separately under ARM 37.34.114, Montana's administrative rule on medication in developmental disabilities services. Providers should treat medication authorization as a distinct, rule-gated track from the DSP core curriculum.

Delivery model — and this is the paragraph Montana providers most need stated plainly: Montana is a state-designated-curriculum state for the DSP core. The College of Direct Supports (an Elsevier product administered by DDP) is named as the required Tier 1 core, new providers obtain access by contacting their DDP Regional Office, and the Provider Manual contains no substitution clause allowing an alternative vendor to satisfy the CDS Tier 1 requirement. An outside training vendor cannot replace that core, and providers should be skeptical of any product that claims otherwise.

Where Training and eTracking Solutions fits in Montana is the part of the mandate the state leaves open: the 12 hours of annual training required after year one, onboarding content beyond the state minimum (PSP-specific skills, documentation, professionalism), and compliance tracking. TeTS can supply the annual-hour catalog, automatically track each DSP's 30-day, 6-month, and annual deadlines — including CDS Tier 1 completion dates recorded alongside everything else — and produce the documentation DDP reviews expect. For the required core itself, contact your DDP Regional Office for College of Direct Supports access.