Blog
Update on Certified Residential Medication Aide (CRMA)
- By: Anna Black
- On: 04/09/2026 10:40:21
- In: State Agency News
For awareness, DHHS is working on further regulating CRMAs and the instructors who train them. The rule making process will likely begin this summer, during which you'll have the opportunity to provide written comments voicing your needs and concerns—and it's vital that you do!
The public comment period is the best way to ensure your needs are addressed in the rule making process.
To ensure you're aware of when the public comment period will open, contact Douglas Andrews with the Division of Licensing and Certification as part of DHHS. Douglas.M.Andrews@maine.gov
In your email, you can say: please include me on the interested parties list for rule making about CRMA. I cannot know what his response will be, but this is a good way to ensure DHHS knows you care about this topic and that you have thoughts to provide.
For background, in January 2026, the Department submitted a bill (LD 2083) giving themselves authority to establish rule making for certification, de-certification, doling of punitive discipline and sanctions, issuing financial charges, and evaluation of instructors and curriculum. MHCA sent out a call for comments from members and took an active role in pushing back against DHHS about the legislative language they laid out, citing our concerns with the lack of clarity, among other things. In the end, the bill passed. So now we have responsibility to get our thoughts, concerns, and recommendations in the hands and ears of DHHS before final rule making.