IHSS Parent Provider Employment Rules – Full Live Streamed Video

Larry Rosen discusses employment rules for IHSS parent providers. Digging through all county letters and MPPs, Larry answers a couple common questions in regards to two parent households where one parent is a provider and the other is a non-provider. “Must a non-provider parent work full-time?” and other similar questions are answered in this video.

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Video Notes:

MPP 30-763.451 & .452

• Manual of Policies & Procedures section 30-763.45
• Section 30-763 is titled “Service Authorization”
• 30-763.45 is specifically about “Minor Recipients Living with Parent(s)”
  • .45 – When the recipient is under eighteen years of age and is living with the recipient’s parent(s), who has a legal duty under the Family Code to provide for the care of his/her child, the IHSS specified in Section 30-763.456 may be purchased from a parent under the following condition:
    • .451 – The parent has left full-time employment or is prevented from obtaining full-time employment because no other suitable provider is available and the inability of the parent to perform supportive services may result in inappropriate placement or inadequate care.
      • (a) – For the purposes of this section, full-time employment means working an average of 40 or more hours per week regardless of worksite location. A parent providing IHSS-funded care to his/her own child is not full-time employment.
    • .452 – For the purposes of Section 30-763.451, a suitable provider is any person who is willing, able, and available to provide the needed IHSS. A suitable provider who is a person having a duty pursuant to the Family Code need only be able and available to provide the needed IHSS; the person is only considered to be unavailable if that unavailability occurs during a time the recipient must receive a specific service, for the following reasons: employment, enrollment in an educational or vocational training program, or employment searches.

• IHSS Fact Check: “The non-provider parent in a two parent household must work full-time.” This is false.

ACL 15-45 “All County Letter”

• Link to ACL 15-45 PDF file
• See Page 6, item 9 of ACL 15-45
  • Question: “MPP Section 30-763.455 states “A parent provider………shall be paid for performing authorized services regardless of the presence of the parent in the home, including non-work hours, weekends and holidays.” In a two-parent home with one parent being the IHSS provider, is the other parent, who is employed outside the home, considered a suitable provider when they are available during non-work hours, weekends and holidays?”
  • Answer: “No, a parent, who is employed full-time, is not considered a “suitable provider” if he/she is only available during non-work hours, weekends, and holidays. “IHSS may be purchased from a parent under the condition that the parent has left full-time employment or is prevented from full-time employment because no other provider is available…” (MPP Section 30-763.451). This section refers to the presence of the other parent/non-provider parent in the home and should not affect payment to the parent provider.”

ACL 19-02

• Clarifies the question, “Must a non-provider parent work full-time?”
• Link to ACL 19-02 PDF file
• See third bullet point on page 5 of ACL 19-02
  • “The parent is working part-time as a condition of employment or seasonally due to reasons other than the need to provide IHSS care for their child. Note: If the part-time work schedule is a result of the parent’s responsibility to provide needed IHSS for the minor recipient, the parent would qualify to be a paid parent provider.”
  • The exert above means that parent providers may have part-time employment. Parent providers are not allowed to have full-time employment.
• Exert from page 6 section “Suitable Provider”
  • “A parent is only considered to be unavailable if that unavailability occurs during a time the recipient must receive a specific service, due to employment, enrollment in an educational or vocational training program, or employment searches.”
  • The exert above means that It is not a requirement for the non-provider parent to be working full time. It IS a requirement for the non-provider parent to be either employed, in school, or looking for work at a time a specific service is being offered. Since PS is 24/7, any hour of the day would apply.
• Exert from page 7 section “Determining if a Parent is a Suitable Provider”
  • “In order to be a suitable provider, a parent must be able and available as defined by MPP Section 30-763.452 to provide the needed IHSS services. A parent would not be considered a “suitable provider” for any of the following reasons:
    1. The parent is unavailable because of employment. Note: Parents who are employed an average of 40 or more hours per week are considered unavailable to provide services; however, a parent that is employed part time is only considered unavailable to provide services during their hours of employment.
    2. The parent is unavailable because they are enrolled in an educational or vocational training program.
    3. The parent is unavailable due to employment searches.
    4. The parent is physically or mentally unable to provide the needed IHSS.
    5. The parent is unavailable to provide care as they have reached one of the statutory workweek maximums defined by WIC Section 12300.4 .”
• Exert from page 7 section “Two Parent Households”
  • “A parent provider who meets the requirements of MPP Section 30-763.451 can be paid as an IHSS provider for performing authorized services regardless of the presence of the other parent in the home, including during non-work hours, weekends, and holidays. …”
  • IHSS Fact Check: “The moment the 2nd parent (non-provider) walks into the home, the 1st parent (provider) can not be paid to be an IHSS provider.” This is false.

• Exert from page 8 & 9 section “Authorization of Two Paid Parent IHSS Providers”
  • Page 9, paragraph 3: “Accordingly, as set forth in ACL 18-31, CDSS will permit a second parent in the same household to also be a paid parent IHSS provider when the first parent who is providing IHSS has reached the statutory workweek limitation. The second parent may be paid as a parent IHSS provider to fulfill the remaining authorized hours of the minor recipient(s) in the home, once the first parent has reached the statutory workweek maximum, as long as the second parent meets all requirements set forth in MPP Section 763.45 et seq.”
  • “Example: Parent 1 is a paid parent provider to her two minor recipient children whose combined hours are 320 hours per month. The statutory work week maximum for a provider serving two recipients is 264 hours per month. Because she is no longer considered available to provide the needed IHSS services beyond 264 hours, she is no longer considered a suitable provider for the children as defined by MPP Section 30- 763.452. Parent 2 used to work full-time, but has been prevented from full-time employment due to the care needs of the children and the absence of a suitable provider (i.e. the mother’s inability to work more than 264 hours); therefore, Parent 2 may be a paid parent IHSS provider for the remaining authorized hours. However, it should be noted that Parent 2 is also limited by the statutory workweek maximums imposed by WIC 12300.4.”

ACL 18-31

• All County Letter 18-31 is referenced from All County Letter 19-02.
• Link to ACL 18-31 PDF file

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