The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued information about implementation of Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) for In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) providers. States are required to implement EVV for personal care services and home health programs no later than January 1, 2020. California received an extension to January 1, 2021 to implement.
CDSS chose to modify the existing Electronic Services Portal and Telephone Timesheet System to allow providers to submit and recipients to verify and approve EVV information. To do this, CDSS added start time, end time and location fields to the Electronic Services Portal and added functionality to the Telephone Timesheet System.
Los Angeles County piloted the EVV system beginning on July 1, 2019. Statewide implementation began in January 2020. The state is divided into five waves. Each waive will have a two-month roll-out. Two months prior to each wave, CDSS will send notices to all providers and recipients in the affected counties. Providers and recipients will receive another notice one month prior to their implementation date.
Counties can hold CDSS-supported information sessions for providers and recipients. CDSS has been hosting webinars for providers and recipients and will continue to do so until implementation is complete. Recipients and providers will also be able to call the IHSS Help Desk for assistance.
Counties will be able to defer provider and recipient enrollment if the provider needs to complete specific activities to enroll such as establishing internet connectivity or identifying a time sheet signatory.
Exceptions from EVV can be granted for recipients if they have no access to landline or internet two times per month or they have a disability verified by a medical doctor that prevents them from using EVV and there is no one available to act as the recipient’s timesheet signatory. (ACL 20-04, January 6, 2020.)