Getting paid to care

IHSS can pay an individual provider for authorized hours. The county decides the case. Ask the county whether a family member can be the provider. Do not assume a spouse or a parent always can.

The state assessment manual says that when a recipient has an able and available spouse, there is no payment to the spouse or to any other provider for domestic services, related services, yard hazard abatement, teaching and demonstration, or heavy cleaning. Personal care and paramedical services may be paid. A spouse is presumed able unless there is medical verification, and presumed available except for work, health, or another unavoidable reason. A personal care program rule says an individual provider shall not be the spouse. The county places the case in a program. Read the manual section and ask.

Paid Family Leave from the Employment Development Department is wage replacement for eligible workers who take time off. It is not IHSS wages. The department decides claims.

Consumer Directed Services is an option inside some Medicaid programs. It is not a way to jump an interest list. The Health and Human Services page on how it works says you tell your case manager or service coordinator, and they give you a list of financial management agencies. Read that page for who cannot be hired before you offer a job to a relative. We are not restating a hiring ban from memory.