In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)

IHSS helps eligible older adults, people who are blind, and people with disabilities live safely at home—instead of in nursing or board-and-care facilities—by paying for in-home help. Recipients must be eligible for or receiving Medi-Cal.

What IHSS Can Cover

• Domestic help: housecleaning, meal prep/cleanup, laundry, grocery shopping
• Personal care: feeding, bathing, grooming, dressing, toileting, mobility/transfer support, paramedical tasks
• Protective supervision
• Ancillary support: accompaniment to medical visits, fittings for health devices, or locations where alternate resources provide care

Who's Eligible? 

• U.S. citizen or qualified non-citizen
• Live in your own home or a home of your choosing (not an acute/long-term care or licensed community care facility)
• Eligible for or receiving Medi-Cal

How to Apply

Request an application by mail or pick one up at any of our county offices [2].

Introduction & Services Video

Short overview of IHSS eligibility, the home visit, covered services, and choosing a care provider. Watch the video [3]

Note for IHSS Recipients & Providers

Overtime & Workweek Rules (effective May 1, 2016): Providers can receive violations for:

• Working over 40 hours in a week for a recipient whose maximum is 40 or fewer hours, without county approval
• Exceeding a recipient’s maximum weekly or overtime hours without county approval
• Working over 66 hours in a week when serving more than one recipient

Use the IHSS Workweek Calculator (supporting document below) to plan your schedule. Enter times using a colon (e.g., 10:30 or 283:00) and remember hours worked in the final week of the prior pay period.

Questions? Contact Social Services at 760-924-1770 [4] or the Public Authority at 530-495-2700 [5].