IHSS, Round 2

Governor Schwarzenegger tried to keep people with conviction history out of the care provider industry before, but he was blocked by the courts.  So he's going after it again--this time, in partnership with the LA Times.  A fitting partnership, I must say, given the paper's track record in fear-mongering against people with conviction history.

The current law already prohibits an IHSS recipient from employing her family member through the program if the family member has been convicted of child abuse, elder abuse, or Medicare fraud in the past 10 years.  The law does not care if the family member completely turned his life around, or if he may be the best caregiver for the IHSS recipient.  The 10-year ban is absolute.  Cal. Wel. & Inst. Code section 12305.81.

And the IHSS program is already set up to give the recipients the freedom and duty to screen whom they choose to care for them.  The existing law exempts IHSS agencies from liabilities arising out of the conduct of caregivers they refer to recipients.  Cal. Wel. & Inst. Code section 12301.6(f).

With this setup, individual recipients must follow existing laws on hiring people with conviction history.  For example, under California's Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA), background check companies cannot report convictions older than 7 years.

If the laws change (as proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger) then the Department of Social Services would be exempt from the ICRAA provisions and will consider old convictions too, substituting its judgment for the judgment of recipients as to who is best qualified to provide care for them.

Needless to say, advocates are already working hard to make sure that rational deliberation wins over irrational fear-mongering.  (Thank you, Jessie!)  Here's hoping and praying that California legislators are more level-headed than LA Times reporters.