IHSS Clients ("consumers")
are active and important UDW supporters
and part of our community.
UDW encourages the participation of IHSS clients in all aspects of our work.
In many ways, clients can speak most effectively about their needs, and
those of their home care worker. UDW has client representatives on all levels.
Clients have been invited to attend bargaining, Labor Management
Committees, and attend our rallies, community meetings, and conventions.
We understand that it is sometimes difficult for these important members
of our community to travel, and one of the reasons for this web site is to
create a place where people who are confined to their homes a great deal
of the time can meet with us, find out what is going on, and get involved.
It is also a place for you to find resources like where to get information
about how to find a home care worker, an advocate, or where you can find
out about the rules that govern your IHSS hours.
This is the age of information and communication.
In today's world many things are now done with words and ideas - not
physical strength. If you are physically or mentally disabled, frail
or elderly, it doesn't mean you cannot contribute or be an important
member of the community. In fact, your voice can be an outstanding
asset to every one of us that is fighting for the rights of home care
workers and their clients. It can also be a moving and stirring force
at all levels
of community, helping others to broaden their views about humanity
and celebrate compassion in their lives. Many people actually want
to help others, but don't know how they can do something meaningful
without donating their whole life! As a client advocate, you can help
educate home care workers on how to work with their clients, speak
with public representatives (like your Board of Supervisors),
write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, or talk with
people at local community meetings about what might be meaningful.
Clients and workers holding a strategy meeting outside the Riverside Board of Supervisors hall before going in to speak at the public session.
How you can get involved:
- Go to local meetings in your area.
- Volunteer for a committee.
- Write a letter for our Opinion Page, or
to your local newspaper and talk about what
is important to you.
- Write your local government representatives about issues that affect you.
- Call your representative on the phone, and tell them about how you want them to represent you.
- Volunteer for local "phone-banking" campaigns, where you speak to other members and let them know about upcoming events or meetings.
- Host a "House Meeting" in your own home, or put together a meeting at your local church or community center.
- Join your county IHSS Advisory Committee (contact IHSS for more information
on this)
If you need more information, call your UDW Regional Office, or our State Headquarters Office, and tell them how you want to get involved.
Resource Links on this
site:
To find out about getting a homecare worker, or other things that are local
to your county, go to Your County, and click
on the name of your county. At the top of each regional page is a
list of "quick links" where you can find information about resources that are
specific to your area.
Our Provider Resources & Advocacy page,
has many statewide and national links for researching government programs,
IHSS rules governing your hours, how you might be able to work and still qualify
for IHSS, support groups and online magazines for the disabled.
Information Specific to IHSS Clients (Consumers)
Disclaimer
By providing the following information and links to other sites,
United Domestic Workers of America does not in any way guarantee, approve
or endorse the information or products available at these sites, nor does
a link indicate any association with or endorsement by the linked site to
UDW. We
are making these resources available so that home care workers and their
clients may streamline their research process as well as network on local,
state, and national levels. Information about
IHSS rules or legal issues given on this site are meant strictly to be
a research starting point and are subject to current rules and law. While
we try to publish the most current information available, the laws & rules
that govern IHSS are complex and do change. Always
use professional advice and verify all information to make sure it is current
before making changes that might affect your eligibility.
Annual Reviews, IHSS Hours, and what you need to know
If you have recently
had your hours cut or need to apply for more hours, download or read the IHSS
Fair Hearing and Assessment Package. It is published by Protection
and Advocacy and is a PDF file (requires Adobe Reader). This document
is also posted in web-format on the Protection & Advocacy
Website and is additionally available on their site in many languages
including Spanish and Vietnamese. It
will help you understand how to do a "self-assessment" in
preparation for an IHSS Annual Review, Initial Application, or application
for more hours. It
will also help you prepare for a Fair Hearing if your hours have been cut.
Related Issue: "Protective
Supervision." If a client/consumer has a mental impairment which
means he or she cannot be left safely in the home alone, then they may be eligible
for "Protective supervision." Protective supervision means watching people
with severe mental impairments so they don't hurt themselves while living at
home. People eligible for protective supervision always get the maximum
number of monthly hours - 195 for non severely impaired and 283 for severely
impaired. They get the maximum even if a county cuts their hours for some other
IHSS service. Download or read the Protective
Supervision document for full information.
(PDF file) This document is also on the Protection & Advocacy
Website in Spanish and Korean.
Additional information:
Time Cards and Missing Paychecks
(when working with an IHSS Independent
Provider - IP)
Sometimes a time card gets returned because IHSS determines that it was not
filled out properly. Pay checks can also get lost or stolen. These
problems will delay your providers paycheck and also future paychecks if a
replacement time card is not requested right away. Find out how to avoid
this from happening, or how to fix it if it does: Payroll
and Timecards
IHSS and Working
It is possible to work and get In Home Support Services, although you
must still meet the income and asset requirements.
You can continue to qualify for IHSS while working, either
through SSI ("Continued Medicaid Eligibility 1619(b)") or through
the "California Working Disabled Program," which is administered through
Medi-Cal (see links for more information below). It
is important to understand the rules and advisable to get professional help
with your work transition. To
learn more:
Continued
Medicaid Eligibility through SSI 1619(b)
Disability
101 / 250% California Working Disabled Program
SSI's Work Incentives
Also see links for Benefits Planning and Advocacy below
AB 925 (The Workforce Inclusion
Act) authorized the use of In Home Support Services in the workplace. This
means you may transfer some of your authorized IHSS hours to a place of
employment. On
October 13, 2004 California's Department of Social Services released the All-County
Letter Number 04-43 (ACL 04-43) that details how
In-Home Supportive Services can be used. Some hours (like domestic)
can not be transferred, and additional hours will not be assigned because
you are working. You can also get more information on this at the Disability
101 Website. (scroll to "IHSS in the Workplace.")
In some circumstances using a "PASS" plan will help disabled persons
pay for education or starting their own business (see below).
Social Security's "Ticket to Work" program can help you get training and other
vocational assistance if you are already receiving Social Security disability
or Social Security Supplementary income. This program allows you to choose
a "service provider" authorized by SSA. This service provider
can help you find and pay for job training, special equipment or transportation
needs as well as other employment related goals. More information:
Maximus / Ticket
to Work (website for the organization that administrates the program)
Disability
101 / Ticket to Work program (Advocacy website)
Ticket to Work toll free information: 1 866 968-7842
Research other Social Security Work Incentives
IHSS and Asset Limitations
As an IHSS client/consumer, you must conform to the MediCal and/or SSI "asset
limitation rules"(allowable liquid assets) in order to
continue to qualify for IHSS. This can make it difficult to gain economic
freedom and autonomy; save for education, special equipment, buying or
improving your own home, or starting a business. However there
are government programs and legal instruments that can help you do
this, without loosing your support services like IHSS and SSI. The rules
governing asset planning and development while receiving government support
can be complex, and it is always advisable to get professional help.
- "Plan for Achieving Self-Support" (PASS)
This is a social security program that allows
an individual to set aside money for a specified purpose related to employment
and achieving "Self-Support." The purpose of a PASS is to
assist the person in obtaining items, services, or skills needed to reach
his or her vocational goals. Those must relate to reducing or eliminating
SSI and/or SSDI benefits.
Cornell University's Employment and Disability Institute has a website that
describes the PASS plan and even has an online tutorial that walks you through
the application process and supplies the forms you need to fill
out. You
can fill out the forms and save them online with a password, so that you
don't have to complete them all in one session: Cornell's
PASS online site
PASS is a Social Security program, and they also have information
about their program online: Social
Security's PASS information
- "Individual Development Account" (IDA). IDA's
are matched savings accounts similar to Individual Retirement Accounts
(IRAs). Use of the savings accrued
in IDAs is restricted to post secondary education and training, home
ownership and business capitalization. The Personal Responsibility
and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 (PRWORA) authorizes states to create
community-based IDA programs with TANF block grant funds and to disregard
all money saved in IDAs in determining eligibility for all means-tested
government assistance (like IHSS, or SSI).
Information
Resource Center on IDA's
Disability 101 on IDA's
- "Special Needs Trust." This
is a legal instrument that allows funds to be held and managed by a Trustee,
and used on behalf of the client/consumer. A Special Needs Trust is
often established when there is a legal settlement as
a result of injury or accident, when the client/consumer is developmentally
or mentally challenged, or when there is an issue of inheritance. However
there are many and varied circumstances where these trusts are appropriate. You
must have professional legal representation to create and use a Special Needs
Trust. Find
an estate or disability lawyer who is familiar with this specialty. More
information:
World
Institute on Disabilities' enews letter focusing on Special Needs Trusts
Book: Special
Needs Trust Administration Manual: A Guide for Trustees, 2005 Edition. Available
through: Disabilities
Books or call 617 879-0397
Benefits Planning and Advocacy
Professional help with program referrals, representation at
IHSS hearings or SSI disputes, vocational goals,
work transition, asset management etc. are often referred to as Advocacy
or Benefits Planning. There are many different agencies and
individuals that perform these services. Sometimes
it is difficult to find one "case manager" that knows about all the
opportunities and pitfalls that are possible to your unique situation,
and you might need to work with several persons or agencies that have
different areas of specialized knowledge. Here are some starting
places (alphabetical order):
- Association of Regional Center Agencies (ARCA) - ARCA
functions as a leader and advocate in promoting the continuing entitlement
of individuals with developmental disabilities to all services that
enable full community inclusion. Find a Regional Center in your area
- Assistive Technology
Tools for Living AT Advocates are community based,
information and referral specialists who can assist consumers with
a variety of assistive technology issues. They work at Independent
Living Centers (see below) in California.
Contact
your local AT advocate
- California
Area Agencies on Aging (AAA)
coordinate a wide array of services to seniors and adults with disabilities
at the community level. No charge for services. Contact
an AAA for your area by calling 1-800-510-2020
- California
Independent Living Centers Independent
Living Centers (ILCs) are non-residential,
community-based centers where people with disabilities can receive
assistance with a variety of daily living issues and learn the skills
they need to take control of their lives from people who have had
similar experiences living with a disability. The centers serve
people with all types of disabilities and, with some exceptions,
do not charge for their services.
- Disability
101 website's links to Benefits Planners (Statewide list)
- Protection
and Advocacy has extensive information on IHSS (in several
languages), and can also assist you in finding someone to help with
Benefits Planning or individual Advocacy issues.
Phone: 916 488-9955
- Social Security's Befefit Planning, Assistance
and Outreach Program:
"
Ticket to Work" toll free information: 1 866 968-7842
- Team of Advocates
for Special Kids (TASK) is a Parent Training and Information
Center that Parents & Professionals can turn to for assistance
in seeking and obtaining needed early intervention, educational,
medical or therapeutic support service for children. They
can also supply you with references for disability and trust lawyers.
Assistance
with Energy Bills
If you are low-income and are having difficulty paying your energy
bill, the Low
Income HEAP program (LIHEAP) may be able to help. More
information |
March
2008: For client/consumers of IHSS who want to earn money, save
their earnings, and still keep their IHSS and Medi-Cal: WRITE LETTERS
OF SUPPORT TO YOUR LEGISLATORS NOW for AB851 (new California Working
Disabled legislation).