IHSS in Kern County

Kern County IHSS and the same statewide Medi-Cal program

Kern County sits at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and also includes mountain and desert communities. Families sometimes treat that mix as a reason to expect a local program with different rules. IHSS is still California’s Medi-Cal home care program. CDSS administers it. Kern County social services takes the local case. DHCS administers Medi-Cal.

Statewide eligibility does not change because the county is large: California residence, Medi-Cal determination, living at home, SOC 873 or accepted alternative documentation, and an in-home assessment. A hospital or licensed community care facility is not “own home.” A parent in a valley neighborhood and a parent in a mountain or desert community still use the same statewide criteria. What changes is only which local office CDSS names for Kern County, not the definition of need.

Finding the Kern County office CDSS lists

Open the CDSS county IHSS office list and find Kern County. Use that listing. This article will not invent a local number. If a clinic in one community and a hospital in another community disagree, CDSS wins until the listed office tells you otherwise.

Ask that office how to file SOC 295. If the parent lives in Kern County and you live in Los Angeles County or Fresno County, you still file in Kern County. Distance is not a reason to use another county’s window.