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In a major victory for IHSS consumers and providers, Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation which would end the wasteful and ineffective requirement of placing fingerprints on IHSS time sheets. More than 500 UDW members sent FAX messages to the governor urging him to sign it.
The UDW sponsored bill—SB 930 (Evans) repeals requirements that In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) recipients provide fingerprint images and that provider timesheets include spaces for provider and recipient fingerprints. The bill also repeals the prohibition against providers using a post office box address to receive their paychecks.
The fingerprinting requirements, estimated to cost the state nearly $10 million a year, were pushed through the Legislature in late 2009 by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as part of his campaign against what he alleged was “massive” fraud in IHSS. However, since providers and clients themselves—not fingerprinting technicians—must put their fingerprints on the IHSS time sheets, these fingerprints cannot be legally used to match against original, confirmed fingerprints.
“We are pleased that Gov. Brown has recognized that these fingerprinting requirements would waste nearly $10 million of taxpayers’ money on a program that cannot be legally used to find fraud in IHSS,” – UDW Executive Director Doug Moore.
Our thanks to UDW members and others in the IHSS community who helped convince the governor to sign this important bill.
See our Legislation Page for more information on current IHSS Legislation, and make sure to check out UDW’s historic role in fighting for legislation to improve the program.
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