The IHSS Recipient Is the Employer of the Individual Provider

Three roles that families often collapse

CDSS describes a simple split that feels anything but simple at the kitchen table. The recipient hires the individual provider and is that person’s employer unless the county is using a contractor or homemaker model. The county social worker assesses need and authorizes tasks and hours. The State issues the provider payment when enrollment is finished and timesheets for authorized time are accepted. Collapsing those roles into “the county is my boss” or “the State is my boss” is how people miss who can fire them and who can change the hours.

If you are an adult child, you may be the hired provider, the person who drives the parent to the assessment, and the person listed to speak with the worker. Those are still different hats. Get paid to care for a parent is the pay path. This page is the employment path.

What hire, train, supervise, and fire look like

• Hire: the recipient chooses an adult child, another relative, a friend, a neighbor, or someone from the Public Authority registry, and that person completes enrollment.
• Train: the recipient explains how they want bathing, meals, or transfers done in their home. The county authorizes the task type. The recipient still sets the manner that is safe for them.
• Supervise: the recipient (or representative) watches whether the authorized help is actually provided and whether it is provided the way they asked.
• Fire: the recipient can end the arrangement and hire another enrolled provider. The county does not have to “approve a breakup” for the individual-provider model.

The provider still has to follow program rules: orientation, forms, timesheets and EVV, and claiming only authorized time. Breaking those rules can stop pay even if the recipient wants the person to stay. That is the State and county side of the split.