QUINCY - Thursday, July 28th was the opening day of the Plumas-Sierra County Fair and free lunches were provided to all seniors and disabled people by the Senior Nutrition Services of Plumas County. In addition, an informational table was there to educate people on the local availability of in-home support services (IHSS), including house cleaning, shopping, cooking, laundry, personal care, and grooming.
To be eligible for this program a person must be disabled or age 65 or older, unable to live safely at home without help, and financially unable to purchase needed services. To apply for IHSS one can call the county welfare or social services agency in your county. A social service worker will come to their home to discuss what help one may need and determine what costs, if any, one may need to pay for services. The social service worker usually conducts a needs assessment on the initial home visit. Persons who receive SSI/SSP meet the program's financial needs requirement. Others may also be eligible but may need to pay a portion of the cost for services.
The United Domestic Workers (UDW) is a union advocating for the IHSS program and, thanks to the union, IHSS workers can, as of this month, now receive overtime and three sick days a year. This is a Medi-Cal funded program, and earlier this year the program had a reduction of recipients hours by 7%. Then UDW went to the state capital and had the program reinforced.
There is currently a tremendous shortage of county home caregivers for the IHSS program and anyone who would be interested in working for $15.50 an hour and also likes a flexible schedule and people, should contact the social services department in their county for more information on how to apply for a job.