How to Get SOC 873 Signed by a Licensed Health Professional

Start with a blank form and a plan to return it

SOC 873 is the Health Care Certification. A licensed health professional completes it. You still have a job: get a blank, get it in front of the right clinician, and get the signed page back to the county. CDSS says this certification, or acceptable alternative documentation, must be received before services are authorized.

Ask the county IHSS office how they want the page returned: mail, drop-off, or upload. Write that method down before the clinic visit so you are not guessing in the parking lot. If you are helping a parent, put their name on your reminder the same way it appears on SOC 295 and on Medi-Cal.

Who to take the form to

Take SOC 873 to a licensed health professional who already follows the person’s condition when you can. A primary clinician is a common choice. A specialist who manages a long-term impairment can also be the right person. The county needs a licensed signature, not a family signature and not a neighbor’s note.

For a child, the same idea applies. CDSS still asks for SOC 873 or acceptable alternative documentation. Do not treat a school form or a routine childcare note as the certification. IHSS is not routine childcare. Ask the county if you are unsure which clinician they will accept.

What to bring to the visit

1. A blank SOC 873, plus a spare copy
2. The applicant’s identification if the clinic requires it
3. The county name and the return method for the signed page
4. A short list of daily help the person already needs, for the conversation with the clinician, not as an attachment for the county

Do not bring a second copy of the entire hospital chart for the county envelope. The clinician can use their own record. Extra hospital dumps in the IHSS packet can slow the file. Keep those records at home for the county packet and send a page only when a worker names it. That is the same rule in what to send with an application.

During the visit

Ask the office staff to put SOC 873 in front of the licensed professional, not only in a portal message. Stay if your parent wants you there and the clinic allows it. Describe a typical day’s help if the clinician asks. Do not fill the professional’s section yourself. Do not promise hours. The social worker authorizes tasks later, using the in-home assessment.

If the conversation turns to skilled nursing, therapy, or procedures that licensed staff must do, remember that those usually go through a different benefit, such as home health. IHSS personal care and paramedical services are not the same as skilled nursing. The clinician’s job on SOC 873 is the certification the program named, not a full treatment plan for the county file.

If the office will not complete SOC 873

Some offices offer a letter, a problem list, or a portal summary instead. Do not decide on your own that the letter replaces SOC 873. Ask the county whether it is acceptable alternative documentation. If it is, send what they accepted and keep a copy. If it is not, ask which licensed professional the county sees on similar cases, then try that office.

A blank SOC 873 in the packet is an incomplete file. Returning an unsigned form does not start the clock on authorization. Wait to send the certification until it is complete, unless the county told you to send SOC 295 first and follow with SOC 873.

Returning the signed page

Copy both sides before you send the original if the county wants the original. Write the applicant name and, if you have it, the case number on a cover note. Use the method the county gave you. Then call once to confirm they have a signed certification, not only an application.

If you also need the county to speak with you about a parent’s case, that is a separate authorization. Getting SOC 873 signed does not list you on the file. Use asking the county to speak with you for that step.

Official pages

The CDSS IHSS and IHSS for children pages state the certification rule. Your county IHSS office tells you how to return the page. The families path puts this errand after SOC 295 and before the in-home visit.