Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Home Care Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
IHSS public authority reports growth in registry, emergency on-call service and provider supports
Summary
Public Authority director Kelly Dearman told commissioners the registry provided 3,555 referral lists in 2019 with about 44% hiring rate; the mentorship and emergency on-call services are active, and the office is expanding group orientations, live-scan fingerprinting, and benefits enrollment.
Kelly Dearman, director of the San Francisco In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) Public Authority, updated commissioners on roster and service outcomes Friday, highlighting the registry, training, emergency on-call services and consumer supports.
Dearman reported that in 2019 the registry provided 3,555 referral lists to about 1,400 consumers and that approximately 44% of those consumers hired providers from the lists. The registry now lists about 302 active independent providers and 401 registry providers who are fully employed. Dearman said San Francisco requires independent providers to complete a 48-hour training before being listed, and that Homebridge provides those trainings.
The public authority said it served 481 unduplicated consumers through its emergency on-call service in 2019, providing more than 9,000 hours. The agency's mentorship program referred 363 consumers and maintained roughly 101 consumers per month in mentoring relationships; staff reported about 98 of those referred had hired providers at the snapshot reported.
Staff described operational improvements: group orientations at 77 Otis, expansion of live-scan fingerprinting at convenient locations, creation of a consumer handbook (to be translated into Chinese and Spanish), and distribution of protective supplies to independent providers as part of union-negotiated agreements.
Commissioners asked about IHSS eligibility (Medi-Cal eligibility and social-worker assessments), reassessment cadence (annual, or upon consumer request), provider benefit thresholds (25 hours a month for medical, with three months of work required for dental), and supports for consumers unable to manage hiring (contract-mode providers such as Homebridge can supply staff). Several commissioners praised the public authority's work and asked for electronic copies of presentation materials and metrics on time-to-hire.
