CSAC and counties have worked together to achieve a significant
implementation outcome for the new county In-Home Supportive
Services (IHSS) Maintenance of Effort (MOE). As counties are
aware, the Governor’s proposal to revise the IHSS MOE was enacted
into law in Senate Bill 80 (Chapter 27, Statutes of 2019). The
new lowered MOE is the work of two years of effort by CSAC and
counties to create a more sustainable IHSS fiscal structure. CSAC
is grateful to the Governor and the Legislature for this outcome
and the increased State General Fund commitment for IHSS costs
that is ongoing and that totals nearly $2 billion in the first
four years of this new structure. One of the first tasks to
implement the rebased MOE is to determine the individual county
MOE amounts.
The Department of Finance is required to consult with CSAC on
making these determinations. CSAC formed an IHSS MOE Subcommittee
of the existing CSAC IHSS Working Group to secure county input in
developing the methodology for the county MOE amounts. The
Subcommittee was co-chaired by Mono County Supervisor John Peters
and Napa County Supervisor Belia Ramos and included
County Administrative Officers (CAOs) from rural, suburban,
and urban counties, as well as county technical experts.
The Subcommittee developed a straightforward, two-step
methodology that determines how to get from the county amounts of
the MOE prior to the rebase to the county amounts of the new
lower 2019-20 MOE. The first step removes the increases from the
end of the State General Fund mitigation and the seven percent
inflation factor in the same county-by-county manner that they
were added. The second step provides every county with an equal
2.01 percent decrease from that point to the new 2019-20 MOE
amount. Full details about the IHSS MOE methodology are available
in the
2019-20 IHSS MOE County Amounts Methodology Brief.
Once the Subcommittee developed the recommended methodology, all
CAOs were briefed and CSAC’s officers gave their approval for
moving forward. The IHSS MOE methodology was then shared with the
Administration for their consideration. The Department of Finance
and Department of Social Services have confirmed that they are
moving forward with implementation. The next step is for the
Department of Social Services to officially establish the county
MOE amounts through a County Fiscal Letter.
Additional IHSS resources are available at www.counties.org/ihss-moe. CSAC will continue to
partner with counties and lead on other aspects of implementing
the new IHSS MOE, as well as develop further resources and
training opportunities.
