Riverside County Department of Public Social Services Adult Protective Services

The aging population in Riverside County is increasing faster than the force of social workers qualified to service their needs. According to the 2000 census, 16.11 percent of the population is age 60 plus. At present there are over 15,000 clients receiving IHSS assistance in Riverside County. In an effort to handle the increasing workload, DPSS authorized APS to utilize caseworkers from Child Protective Services (CPS).

IHSS presently has 30 caseworkers, each with a minimum caseload of 420 clients. Their case burden increases at a five to seven percent growth rate yearly. There is no established maximum on the number of clients assigned to caseworkers. 1

In order to be approved for IHSS services, applicants must qualify for Medi-Cal. IHSS caseworkers are presently assessing 1,000 plus applicants per month. (This figure does not account for projected increases.) Of these applicants, 40 percent do not qualify and are eventually denied Medi-Cal benefits. The average assessment time by a caseworker is approximately six hours per applicant. These six man- hours times the approximately 400 Medi-Cal denials per month represent a sizeable unreimbursed county expense.

The submission of IHSS and Medi-Cal applications simultaneously creates an untenable situation. Many IHSS applications are not being completed within the 30-day state mandated time frame, per California-DSS-Manual- SS 30-759 Application Process. DPSS cannot approve an IHSS claim until the client has been approved for Medi-Cal. The time frame for Medi- Cal to process a claim is 45 days pursuant to Regulations Manual Medi- Cal Eligibility §50177 (1).

Due to a pay increase, previously established to attract more caseworkers, CPS pays caseworkers at a 5.5 percent higher rate of pay than APS. Consequently, when an opening arises, APS caseworkers are inclined to request transfer to CPS.