Who Can Be Paid as a Relative IHSS Provider

A map of who the program can pay

CDSS publishes one provider sentence and two important caveats. Providers may include family members, friends, neighbors, or Public Authority registry providers after enrollment. Adult children helping a parent are the common case of that sentence. The caveats are a spouse, and a parent of a child under 18. Those two relationships depend on the IHSS sub-program. This page is the map. The linked guides are the street-level directions.

Ordinary family path

Use this path for an adult child, a sibling, an adult grandchild, and most other family members hired to help an adult recipient. The recipient is the employer. The relative finishes orientation, SOC 426, SOC 846, and a background check where required. They must be authorized to work in the United States. They record authorized time with EVV when it applies. The State issues the check. Rates vary by county unions.

Get paid to care for a parent is the adult-child journey version of that path, including the parent’s Medi-Cal and assessment track.

Friends, neighbors, and the registry

Not every paid helper is a relative. Friends and neighbors enroll on the ordinary individual-provider path. The Public Authority registry helps a recipient find someone when the family is not available. Choosing a provider is how households pick among those options. Some counties also offer a contractor or homemaker.

Spouse path

An able, available spouse is often deemed to provide many services unpaid (WIC 12301), except nonmedical personal care and paramedical services, with extra spouse-pay rules. PCSP generally leaves a spouse unpaid. CFCO, IPO, or IHSS-Residual can allow payment after enrollment. Details: when a spouse can be paid. Do not copy an adult-child plan onto a marriage.

Parent of a minor path

PCSP does not allow a parent to be the paid provider for a child under 18. After ACL 23-106, a parent who finishes enrollment may be paid when the minor is in CFCO, IPO, or IHSS-Residual. WIC 12300(e) still limits what any provider may be paid to do for a minor. Details: parent of a minor and CDSS IHSS for children.

What every paid relative still shares

• The recipient’s IHSS case must authorize tasks and hours after Medi-Cal, SOC 873 or acceptable alternative documentation, and the assessment.
• Paid hours start after enrollment and authorization are both in place.
• Each person signs their own enrollment forms.
• Live-in relatives who self-certify on SOC 2298 have different EVV steps, not a different statewide hour cap.
• Unpaid Medi-Cal share of cost can be deducted from the warrant; the recipient then pays the provider that amount.

How to use the map with the county

1. Name the relationship in one phrase the worker will recognize (adult child, sister, spouse, parent of a minor, friend).
2. If the relationship is spouse or parent-of-minor, ask which sub-program is on the case.
3. If the program can pay, start enrollment through the Public Authority.
4. If the program cannot pay that person, choose another provider from the ordinary path or the registry.

Keep CDSS providers, IHSS, IHSS for children, and the county office list open while you talk to the worker. If you want help walking the map before that call, ask for help once you know the county and the relationship.

The map does not change because someone already gives unpaid help. Care given before enrollment and authorization is family help. It does not convert into a back-dated warrant. It also does not change PCSP limits on a spouse or a parent of a minor. Start the right path early so the first authorized timesheet has a person the State can pay.