San Diego County Grand Jury • 2010-2011

In-home Supportive Services:

Published: April 19, 2011 12 pages
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Findings 6 findings

F01
State and federal laws regarding the administration of the IHSS program are complex, overlap and contain many loopholes that could lead to fraud and/or abuse and prevent the County from validating that services are delivered to consumers.
F02
Eligibility criteria for IHSS services are imprecise and may not be interpreted uniformly by all counties.
F03
The IHSS program regulations and the enormous caseloads carried by IHSS caseworkers do not allow close monitoring of consumers and caregivers to assure services are 9 delivered appropriately, especially to those consumers receiving the maximum care hours and funding. Such large caseloads may result in the caseworker failing to detect a consumer is being physically or financially abused and/or neglected.
F04
Sheriff’s investigators do not have access to IHSS consumer records to conduct criminal investigations.
F05
The County is required to seek a federal “Medicaid waiver” and state approval to implement a comprehensive, coordinated long-term care program that provides a system of care rather than uncoordinated, stand-alone programs delivering only one mode of care, such as in- home care.
F06
County officials recognize the shortcomings of the IHSS model and have taken steps to improve it within the limitations permitted by state and federal law. This includes instituting the new state-mandated Public Integrity unit to prevent, detect and prosecute fraud, and ensure all caregivers completed a background check by December 31, 2010. However, the state’s failure to provide working protocols for the investigators inhibits the unit’s ability to discover or prevent fraud.

Recommendations 9

Agency Responses 1

Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.

No Responses Found 3

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

County Service Area No. 26 (San Diego) Special District
San Diego County Board of Supervisors Elected County Office
San Diego County Sheriff Elected County Office