IHSS
Becky
I am writing because I have come upon an interesting (nice word for
irritating) development recently regarding IHSS and would like to know
if it is happening in other places and how are people dealing with it.
Basically, I was contacted by IHSS regarding individuals recieving
"protective supervision" and a request was made for a schedule of
providers both paid by IHSS or paid by other resouces. I provided that
schedule. I was then told that no staff person can work more than 10
hours a day regardless of who is paying them for their hours. So, for
example, one staff comes in Friday at noon and works till Saturday at 5
p.m. Only 4.5 hours of that shift is paid by IHSS but I was told that
the individuals protective supervison hours were in jeopardy if the
schedule wasn't changed to reflect more 'reasonable' shifts. The
reason that was provided to me: "The staff person has to be awake and
alert for the entire shift in order to provide protective supervison."
This particular example is a gentleman who has IHSS protective
supervison hours and regional center supported living hours for the
rest of the time--he does have 1:1 24 hour staff support. He does not
require an awake person at night as he has no night time dangerous
behaviors BUT if there was an emergency or an incident the staff WOULD
be expected to respond, of course. So..that's it in a nut shell...any
ideas? similar situations? I am eager to hear from all of
you.....Thanks.
Becky
mbays...@aol.com
Thank you for your response and suggestions. I met last week with
representatives from the regional center to express to them how
concerned I am about what this position taken by IHSS could mean. In
effect, we would have to change all of the staffing for indiviudlas
receiving protective supervision so none of their staff ever worked
more than 10 hour shifts no matter who was paying them. The IHSS
representative keeps discussing it as a "quality assurance " concern
that would be putting recipients at risk. I am going to look into the
collective bargaining agreement also. INteresting what yh9ou said
about utilizing IHSS at night and having IHSS respond that they would
be making too much money to sleep--here she said they CAN'T sleep..they
have to be awake and ready to jump.
I'll keep you informed. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and
experiences.
Becky
-----Original Message-----
From: John Shea <alle...@sbcglobal.net>
To: CIRCL-Suppo...@googlegroups.com
Cc: Becky <mbays...@aol.com>
Sent: Thu, 18 May 2006 18:47:09 -0700
Subject: Re: IHSS
Becky,
My son lives with two peers. All thee are "disabled" and all get IHSS.
Each person gets some "protective supervision" hours. One of the three
gets 283 hours per month, total. The other two, because they "share
some protective supervision," get around 238 IHSS hours per month each.
We were told that if each had 24/7 support from different workers, each
would probably get 283 hours per month. That would mean, we were told,
that each would have a separate person during the night as well as
during the day. That is, at night, there would be six people present --
the three service recipients, and each one's personal service worker.
From the start, IHSS officials in our county did not want IHSS hours
used at night, because earning $10.50 (then $9.50) per hour while
typically asleep for emergency purposes only would be a waste of IHSS
resources. Everyone agreed that an asleep person at night would suffice
for "protective supervision" for all three.
IHSS officials did ask Community Care Licensing for a statement as to
whether the home was (or, was not) an unlicensed care home. IHSS social
workers said it was very unusual for three people living together to
each need "protective supervision." Apparently, the regulatory
guidelines for calculating IHSS hours do not specifically address how
to calculate hours when there are more than two individuals living
together, each receiving IHSS protective supervision. The Licensing
Analyst went out to the home, together with the SLS Coordinator at our
regional center, and the determination was that the home is NOT an
unlicensed care home.
At my son's home, the SLS agency has had to specify in writing who
provides coverage beyond IHSS, so that the person has "protective
supervision" from an IHSS worker or when not receiving services from an
"alternative resource," such as a employment/day program. In doing
that, we have NOT been asked for specifics on shifts, however, to my
knowledge. The three get a combination of IHSS and SLS services, the
later paid by the regional center.
In my county, we have heard nothing about "unreasonably long shifts,"
as you describe. I suppose that if IHSS funds were used for awake
"protective supervision" at night, it could be viewed as an issue. You
might want to look at any collective bargaining (CB) agreement, if
there is one, between a union representing the workers and the public
authority. CB agreements trump Wage Orders, as I understand things. If
a CB agreement specifies no more than 10 hour shifts without a
substantial break, I would raise it as an issue with the union and the
county. Stakeholders need to work things out that honor the needs and
desires of the service recipient, first and foremost.
Hope this is of some help. Give me a call or send me another email, if
you have any questions.
--John
John Shea
Allen, Shea & Associates
1780 3rd Street
Napa, CA 94559
Ph: 707-258-1326
Website: www.allenshea.com