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Supervisors back resolution to urge state reversal of blanket IHSS provider ban for people with felony convictions
Summary
Supervisor Avalos introduced a resolution urging the state to reverse recent laws or guidance that bar people with felony convictions from serving as in‑home supportive services (IHSS) providers. The measure drew extensive public comment from advocates and affected families.
Supervisor Avalos introduced a resolution at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting asking the city to urge the state to reverse or revise recent restrictions that could bar people with felony convictions from serving as in‑home supportive services (IHSS) providers for family members.
Avalos said the change in state law would prevent many qualified family caregivers from providing paid care to relatives and could affect roughly 22,000 family members who receive IHSS in San Francisco. He asked the board to hold a public discussion in committee on how the city should respond and to consider urging the state to restore flexibility.
Multiple public commenters, consumer advocates and IHSS stakeholders spoke in support of the resolution during the public comment period. James Chianschini of Planning for Elders and the IHSS task force said the new rules are “overbroad” and would bar people who served time long ago from caring for relatives. Chianschini described a hypothetical case in which a person with a decades‑old felony conviction could be prevented from being paid to care for a family member.
Advocates from the groups All of Us or None and Legal Services for Prisoners with Children said San Francisco has previously adopted hiring reforms to minimize discrimination based on conviction history; they urged the city to oppose what they called a broad and confusing state implementation that will reduce access to care and harm low‑income families.
Donna Wilmot, who staffs a consumer helpline, told the board the restrictions will undermine the right of consumers to choose their caregivers and could force elders and people with disabilities into institutional care. Linda Evans of All of Us or None said the state law as implemented in counties’ guidance was narrower in text but broader in practice, causing confusion and service loss.
Supervisor Avalos said he will take the resolution to committee for a fuller public hearing and analysis. The text as introduced asks the board to seek ways to urge state officials to reconsider the guidance and to craft a local response to protect consumers’ ability to choose paid family caregivers.
