Living Arrangements

IN-HOME SUPPORTIVE SERVICES

Living Arrangements

Release Date

10/24/2017

Section Heading

Purpose

Converted document, no content change.

What changed?

Changed document title from “Able and Available Spouse” to “Living Arrangements” to combine policy and procedures for possible living arrangements for In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) applicants/recipients in one document; and
Releases the following calculation worksheets:
- Domestic Services Proration;
- Paramedical Services; and
- Accompaniment to Medical Appointments/Wait time.

Note: Changes are shown highlighted in grey throughout the document

Policy

When the IHSS applicant/recipient lives with others, the nature of the living arrangements is considered to determine whether the assessed need of service is met in common with the other household members. If the service is provided in common, the assessed need shall be prorated among all the individuals involved, and the recipient’s need is his/her prorated share.

Common living arrangements include, but are not limited to:

The IHSS recipient lives with a spouse who does not receive IHSS;
The IHSS recipient shares housing with other housemates;
The IHSS recipient lives with a live-in provider;
The IHSS recipient moves in with relatives to receive IHSS;
The IHSS recipient is the tenant; and
The IHSS recipient is the landlord.

Background

N/A

Definitions

Able and Available (A&A) Spouse

When an IHSS recipient has a spouse, who does not receive IHSS, the spouse shall be presumed able to perform certain specified tasks unless he/she provides medical verification of his/her inability to do so (MPP 30-763.41).

Case Management, Information and Payrolling System Version 2 (CMIPS)

A web-based, comprehensive case management system used to:

Record and track IHSS recipient and provider information;
Determine eligibility for IHSS; and
Manage payroll for IHSS providers.

Domestic Services

General household chores to maintain the cleanliness of the home.

Housemate

A person who shares a living unit with another person(s) and share mortgage, rent, and other expenses. An A&A spouse and a live-in provider are not considered housemates.

Landlord/Tenant Living Arrangement

A shared living arrangement when one housemate, the landlord, allows another, the tenant, to share housing facilities in return for a monetary or in-kind payment to augment the landlord's income.

Live-In Provider

Provider who is not related to the recipient and who lives in the recipient's home expressly to provide IHSS-funded services. This is not considered a landlord/tenant arrangement.

Paramedical Services

Services that include puncturing the skin; activities requiring inserting a medical device into a body orifice; activities requiring sterile procedures or judgement based on training given by a Licensed Health Care Professional (LHCP).

Personal Care Services

Respiration assistance, bowel/bladder care, feeding, routine bed baths, dressing, menstrual care, ambulation and getting in/out of vehicles, transferring, bathing, oral hygiene and grooming, rubbing skin and repositioning, care and assistance with prosthesis and help setting up medications.

Related Services

Meal preparation, meal clean-up, routine laundry, shopping for food and other shopping errands.

Shared Living Arrangement

A situation in which one or more IHSS recipients reside in the same living unit with one or more persons. A shared living arrangement does not exist if a recipient is residing only with his/her A&A spouse or a live-in provider.

Spouse

A member of a married couple or a person considered to be a member of a married couple for SSI/SSP purposes. For determining Personal Care Services Program (PCSP) eligibility, spouse means legally married under the laws of the State of the couple's permanent home at the time they lived together.

Requirements

If spouse claims he/she is unable to provide services due to incapacity or disability, then:

The spouse must provide medical verification of his/her inability to provide services to the recipient.

Verification Docs

Acceptable Documents

Spouse is incapacitated or disabled

Medical certification from a LHCP indicating the spouse’s physical/mental limitations due to a disability and the expected duration of the disability; or
PA 115, Physician’s Certification of Spousal Disability (hereinafter PA 115).

Spouse is unavailable due to employment

Verbal statement from spouse indicating work schedule.

Spouse is prevented from full‑time employment, or wishes to seek employment but cannot because no other suitable caregiver is available

Verbal statement from spouse.

Attachments

N/A

DPSS ePolicy

NAVIGATION