LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1970, as amended, Fong. In-home supportive services providers:
emergency shelter services.
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act,
establishes emergency services functions of the state, as specified.
Existing federal law
also provides for
the declaration of a federal state of emergency, upon the request
made by the Governor of an affected state, for the purpose of
receiving federal emergency assistance.
Existing law provides for the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)
program, under which, either through employment by the recipient, by
or through contract by the county, by the creation of a public
authority, or pursuant to a contract with a nonprofit consortium,
qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons receive services enabling
them to remain in their own homes.
Existing law permits services to be provided under the
IHSS program either through the employment of individual providers, a
contract between the county and an entity for the provision of
services, the creation by the county of a public authority, or a
contract between the county and a nonprofit consortium. The
duties of a public authority or nonprofit consortium
that
provides services under the IHSS Program include the provision
of assistance to recipients in finding in-home supportive services
personnel through the establishment of a provider registry.
This bill would
require the State Department of Social
Services authorize a county department of
social services to make IHSS provider registries available
during a
state or federally declared state of
emergency, upon the request of an emergency shelter
operator, for the assistance of seniors and persons with disabilities
at the shelter site. The bill would specify county and public
authority responsibilities in administering the bill
emergency. The bill would require a person designated by the county
as representative of the county department of social services to,
upon the request of an emergency shelter operator, assess the operator's emergency shelter, as define d,
to determine the assistance needs of seniors and persons with
disabilities at the shelter site. The bill would authorize the county
department of social services to direct the public authority, or
other entity responsible for providing in-home supportive services in
the county, to contact in-home supportive services providers who are
willing and available to provide assistance to seniors and persons
with disabilities at the emergency shelter .
By imposing new duties or local officials, this bill would create
a state-mandated local program.
The bill would provide that an in-home supportive services
provider who provides assistance to seniors and persons with
disabilities at an emergency shelter shall not be liable for harm
caused by an act or omission of the provider if the provider was
acting within the scope of his or her responsibilities as an in-home
supportive services provider at the time of the act or omission and
the harm was not caused by willful or criminal misconduct, gross
negligence, reckless misconduct, or a conscious, flagrant
indifference to the rights or safety of the individual harmed by the
provider. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Comments/questions on AB 1970 (Fong): In-home supportive services providers: emergency shelter services.
