The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has issued instructions about IHSS eligibility for children in Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) or Foster Care.  Children who receive AAP benefits who apply for IHSS must receive a comprehensive needs assessment.  Children who receive AAP can be eligible for IHSS.  AAP cannot be considered an alternative resource when determining the number of hours of IHSS eligibility.

Children placed in with an approved resource family or in a setting that must be approved as a resource family prior to December 31, 2019 are considered to be residing in their own home and are eligible for IHSS.  Children placed with a relative or with Non-Relative Extended Family Member are also eligible for IHSS.  Children who live in licensed community care facilities such as group homes, short-term residential therapeutic programs and transitional housing placement providers are not eligible for IHSS as long as they are in those placements because they are not residing in their own home.  (ACIN I-40-17, June 23, 2017.)

Previously, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) instructed that IHSS providers who did not sign the SOC 846 provider agreement by April 29, 2017 would be terminated from the program.  CDSS has rescinded this policy.  CDSS states that most providers completed and returned the SOC 846 and all providers have received the information contained in the SOC 846. As a result, no disciplinary action will be taken against IHSS providers who do not sign and return the provider agreement.  (ACL 17-43, May 19, 2017.)

CDSS has issued instructions about the IHSS overtime exemption for extraordinary circumstances.  The criteria and initial instructions for the IHSS overtime exemption for extraordinary circumstances are in ACL 16-22, summarized here.

CDSS’ new instructions address renewal of an extraordinary circumstances exemption.  All conditions on which the exemption was initially granted must remain the same for an exemption to be renewed.  If there has been any changes, the county must submit to CDSS a referral for a new exemption instead of renewal of the existing exemption.

Prior to submitting the renewal request, the recipients must explore and exhaust all options for hiring additional providers in the same manner as for the initial exemption request.  This includes contacting relatives, friends, neighbors or other people the recipient knows about their willingness to be a provider, contacting provider registries both in the county where the recipient lives and in neighboring counties, and utilizing alternative resources such a Regional Center services, to address issues with the recipient’s ability to tolerate an outside provider.

CDSS eliminated the requirement to perform a renewal at the next face-to-face reassessment when reassessment occurs before the end of the six month or one year period of the exemption.  However, requests for renewals must be submitted to CDSS by the county no less than 30 days before the exemption ends.

CDSS also clarified that counties determine when to submit exemption requests to CDSS and the county shall not submit either an initial referral or request to renew to CDSS if the county decides other resources are available.  (ACL 17-13, April 7, 2017.)

CDSS has issued instructions implementing AB 1797 about confirmation numbers for IHSS applications.  AB 1797 added Welfare and Institutions Code Section 12301.16 that requires counties to provide HIS applicants with a confirmation number upon receipt of an IHSS application.

CDSS will use the case number that is randomly assigned by the CMIPS II computer system as the confirmation number.  CDSS developed a notice called “Notice of Application Confirmation Number (SOC 2300)” for IHSS agencies to use when providing notification of the application confirmation number.  Counties must provide the confirmation number either verbally before the end of a telephone call during which an IHSS application is taken or in writing when the application is entered into CMIPS II.  (ACL 17-18, February 16, 2017.)

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has announced that it will allow IHSS providers to self-certify that they live in the same home as the IHSS recipient for purposes of federal income taxes.

Internal Revenue Service Notice 2014-7 states that wages for an IHSS provider who lives in the same home as the recipient are not considered gross income for purposes of federal income taxes.  CDSS will allow self-certification that the IHSS provider lives with the recipient by submitting the SOC 2298 form.  Providers will only need to submit the form once.  If the living situation changes, the provider will need to submit the SOC 2299 form.

Wages will continue to be included as federally taxable income until the SOC 2298 form is submitted and processed.  CDSS Provider Bulletin, Live-In Provider Self Certification Information.