HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 04281987 - 1.42 TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM: Phil Batchelor Contra
County Administrator
Costa
DATE: April 21, 1987 Count/
SUBJECT:
Legislation: Senate Bill 277 (Watson)
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION•
Adopt a position of opposition to SB 277 by Senator Deane Watson
unless it is amended to provide adequate funding for the
additional requirements which would be enacted by the bill. SB
277 requires that whenever In-Home Supportive Services ( IHSS) are
approved for an individual the Social Services Department make a
follow-up visit within one month. The bill also requires that
the County employ, either as an employee or by contract, a
substitute IHSS worker when the client' s regular provider is
unavailable for specified reasons.
BACKGROUND:
Under existing law, the Social Services Department is required to
authorize In-Home Supportive Services ( IHSS) for aged, blind, or
disabled persons who are unable to perform the services
themselves and who cannot safely remain in their homes unless the
services are provided. SB 277, which is admittedly a
well-intentioned piece of legislation, requires the Social
Services Department to provide a follow-up visit to each IHSS
recipient within one month of the approval of services whenever
the individual, because of physical or mental incapacity, is
unable to personally contact the Social Services Department to
report problems, or where the individual does not have another
person to objectively report the individual' s circumstances to
the Social Services Department.
In addition, SB 277 requires the Social Services Department to
employ persons who can provide IHSS services whenever the
individual' s regular provider has not yet been hired, is ill, on
vacation, in an emergency, or is otherwise absent temporarily.
Rather than employing a substitute IHSS provider the Social
Services Department could contract for the services with another
agency to provide the necessary services.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE:
X RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD))) COMMITTEE
X APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(SI:
ACTION OF BOARD ON April > 1987 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
UNANIMOUS (ABSENT AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
County Administrator APR 2 8 1987
cc: Social Services Director ATTESTED
Jackson/Garish & Associates PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
D. J. Smith Associates SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
CSAC Director
Senator Diane Watson BY ,DEPUTY
M382/7-83
Page 2
The Social Services Department is in favor of the content of SB
277 in all respects. The protections provided for in the bill
are important and necessary ones. However, SB 277 provides that
reimbursement can only be obtained through the State Mandates
Claims Fund, a singularly inadequate resource for additional
state-mandated levels of service which could run to hundreds of
thousands of dollars statewide.
In Contra Costa County we do not employ IHSS providers, nor do we
contract for another agency to provide them. Each individual
recipient is responsible for obtaining his or her own provider.
The County cost for such providers now averages $3 . 61 per hour.
Having to contract for substitute services can run up to $10. 00
per hour, and using a County employee would run a comparably high
cost per hour.
While a one-month follow-up visit under the circumstances
outlined in the bill are considered most important, this County
simply does not have the financial resources available to provide
for such follow-up visits. If the state were to provide funding
for these additional, admittedly needed required services, we
would gladly provide them. However, the States Mandates Claims
Fund is not a reliable source for such funding. It is,
therefore, recommended that the Board of Supervisors go on record
in opposition to SB 277 unless and until it is amended to include
an appropriation -to cover the cost of the additional
state-mandated local costs or such funds are included in the
State Budget for 1987-88 before passage of SB 277 .