IHSS Alpine County: the Markleeville HHS office, phone number and $17.85 pay

What IHSS offers Alpine County residents

Alpine County's Adult Services page says HHS administers the CDSS IHSS program and that residents can apply to find out whether they meet its income and status rules. The county presents IHSS as a substitute for out-of-home care, naming nursing homes and board and care facilities; the aim is for aged, blind and disabled residents to remain safely at home.

The services the county lists are:

• housecleaning and laundry;
• meal preparation and grocery shopping;
• personal care services;
• going with the recipient to medical appointments;
• protective supervision for people with mental impairments.

CDSS sets the conditions every county applies. The person receiving care must live in California, have a Medi-Cal eligibility determination, and reside at home, or somewhere they have picked as home; CDSS rules out hospitals and long-term care or licensed community care settings. Alpine HHS can authorize hours only once the SOC 873 health certification has come back completed.

How to apply: the IHSS Alpine County phone number and office

Contact Alpine County Health and Human Services at 75 A Diamond Valley Rd, Markleeville, CA 96120. The phone number is (530) 694-2235 and the fax is 530-694-2252. The Adult Services page says to call that number for detailed eligibility information, and the Protective Services page invites residents to come into the HHS office. The county pages we read do not give office hours, so call before you visit.

From there the process follows the state model:

1. Application. The county links the state IHSS application, the SOC 295, which CDSS also offers in other languages. Send it to HHS or ask staff for a copy.
2. Health form. Your doctor or another licensed health professional signs off the SOC 873.
3. Home assessment. CDSS says a county social worker visits to decide eligibility and the hours needed, and can weigh information from you, relatives, friends or a physician.
4. Notice. The county sends a decision: either the approved services with your monthly hours, or the reason for a denial.

If you are approved, CDSS makes you the employer: you hire, train and supervise the provider and can let them go. A relative or friend can be hired. Interview tips and a sample written agreement are in our guide for families hiring a caregiver.

IHSS pay in Alpine County: $17.85 an hour

Alpine County IHSS individual providers are paid $17.85 an hour, with July 1, 2026 as the effective date, per the Alpine line in CDSS's wage workbook, sheet "IP Effective 10-1-2026", which we downloaded October 16, 2026. No other county has exactly that rate; 46 pay more and 11 pay less. The 2026 California minimum wage is $16.90, so the IHSS rate is 95 cents higher.

Each county's employer of record bargains with a union over wages, CDSS notes, which is why rates are uneven. Pay is set by where the recipient's case is open, not by where the provider lives, so an Alpine resident caring for someone whose case is in El Dorado or Amador County earns that county's rate. Payment is issued by the state, which handles disability insurance and Social Security withholding for eligible providers. Alpine County's pages do not name a union or describe provider health benefits; HHS is the place to ask.

Alpine County is very small: EDD counts its labor force at about 482 people. About 8.1% of Alpine County's labor force was unemployed, on average, between August 2025 and August 2026, according to EDD estimates; California's rate was 5.3%. Nothing for Alpine County shows up in UC Berkeley's minimum wage ordinance inventory (last modified September 30, 2026); for privately paid caregivers in Markleeville and elsewhere in the county, $16.90 is the legal minimum. Our IHSS provider pay by county guide has every county.

Is there an IHSS Public Authority or registry in Alpine County?

The California Association of Public Authorities places Alpine County among its non-member counties and says contact information is not available, directing people to the county IHSS department instead. We found no Alpine County page describing a provider registry, a Public Authority office, orientation dates or a union. That does not mean none exists; it means the county has not published it.

In practice, a family without a provider in mind should ask HHS on (530) 694-2235 whether it keeps a list of available providers or can refer one. A caregiver who wants IHSS work should ask the same office how and when orientation is offered.

Becoming an IHSS provider in Alpine County

CDSS does not run provider orientations; it tells prospective providers to contact the county IHSS office to sign up. Because Alpine County publishes no local steps, the state's own notice to new providers, the SOC 847, is the best written guide. It lists four steps, which can be done in any order:

1. Enrollment form (SOC 426). Fill it in and hand it in at the county IHSS office yourself. Bring a valid photo ID issued by a US federal or state agency or a federally recognized tribal organization, and your original or replacement Social Security card.
2. Fingerprints and background check. Wait for the county's fingerprinting instructions, then complete a Department of Justice check. You pay for it; the form, last revised in May 2016, estimates $40 to $90, so confirm current costs.
3. Orientation. Attend the provider orientation the county arranges. CDSS also posts a full-length provider orientation video online in English, Chinese and Spanish.
4. Provider agreement (SOC 846). Sign it at the end of orientation to confirm you accept the program rules.

The SOC 847 gives you 90 days from the start to complete all four; miss that and you are found ineligible. The SOC 847 advises people with any arrest or conviction from the last decade to begin with fingerprinting, because the DOJ review can take longer. It also explains the two tiers of disqualifying crimes and the waiver and general exception options for some Tier 2 convictions. More detail is in our step-by-step IHSS provider guide, and relatives should also see our page on IHSS pay for relatives.

Live Scan in Markleeville

The Attorney General's directory shows one public Live Scan site in Alpine County:

The listing accepts cash and checks. The rolling fee covers only the operator's service; DOJ and FBI processing fees are charged separately, so check the total with HHS before booking.

Timesheets, hours and sick leave

• Electronic Services Portal. Providers register at www.etimesheets.ihss.ca.gov through "Register Here" to send timesheets, see payment history, set up direct deposit and request sick leave. Recipients use it to approve or reject timesheets.
• IHSS Service Desk. (866) 376-7066, 8 am to 5 pm on weekdays, excluding major holidays.
• Sick leave. Alpine providers, like all IHSS providers, receive a 40-hour sick-leave allotment for the 2026/27 year, beginning July 1, 2026, after they log 100 hours of authorized work. Submit a claim through the portal or by mailing the paper SOC 2302; whatever remains on June 30 is forfeited.

Adult Protective Services and other help in Alpine County

Alpine County APS covers elders aged 60 and up and dependent adults from 18 through 59 who cannot meet their basic needs or who are being abused, neglected or exploited, regardless of income. To report suspected abuse or neglect, call (888) 755-8099. The county says the state abuse report form, SOC 341, can be filed with the HHS office. The CDSS statewide line, 1-833-401-0832, routes callers to county APS by ZIP code 24 hours a day. In an emergency, call 911.

HHS also runs two programs that sit alongside IHSS:

• Senior meals. Delivered meals for vulnerable older adults at risk of abuse, neglect or exploitation; an APS social worker decides eligibility. Call (530) 694-2235.
• Food closet. Food for any Alpine County resident, once a month during business hours.

For Alpine County, the California Department of Aging names the Area 12 Agency on Aging as the local area agency; its office is at 19074 Standard Road, Suite A, in Sonora, phone (209) 532-6272.

Care beyond authorized IHSS hours

IHSS authorizes a set number of hours each month. Care beyond that, for example overnight shifts or a fill-in while the regular provider takes time off, is a private arrangement, priced by negotiation between the household and the caregiver.

• Caregivers: caregiver jobs in Alpine County, and nearby El Dorado County and Amador County.
• Families: home care in Alpine County and in-home caregivers in Calaveras County.

An Alpine County household can list a care job on CaregiverConnect without paying. Interested caregivers reply to the listing, and the household makes the hire and acts as employer; caregivers are not charged commission. We don't background-check anyone; caregivers who have been checked can upload that record. Paid plans are optional and add features, and the cost of in-home care in California guide can help with planning. New family postings appear on these pages as they are published. For a recipient whose case sits in a neighboring county, read IHSS in El Dorado County or IHSS in Amador County.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Alpine County, Adult Services (HHS administers IHSS, SOC 295 link, services, (530) 694-2235, APS (888) 755-8099, senior meals, food closet)
2. Alpine County, Protective Services (IHSS and APS overview, come into the HHS office)
3. Alpine County, Social Services (Health and Human Services, 75 A Diamond Valley Rd, Markleeville, phone and fax)
4. California Association of Public Authorities, County Public Authorities (Alpine County listed as a non-member county)
5. CDSS, IHSS wages by county (workbook sheet "IP Effective 10-1-2026"; Alpine $17.85 from July 1, 2026)
6. CDSS, In-Home Supportive Services (eligibility, SOC 295, SOC 873, recipient as employer, wages and payroll)
7. CDSS, IHSS provider orientation process (county orientations, SOC 426, SOC 846, orientation videos)
8. CDSS, SOC 847 Important information for prospective providers about the IHSS provider enrollment process (5/16; read via r.jina.ai)
9. CDSS, IHSS provider paid sick leave (FY 2026/27)
10. CDSS, timesheet information (Electronic Services Portal, IHSS Service Desk)
11. CDSS, Adult Protective Services (statewide hotline 1-833-401-0832)
12. California Attorney General, Live Scan locations in Alpine County
13. California Department of Aging, Alpine County services (Area 12 Agency on Aging)
14. California EDD, Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS), 12-month average August 2025 to August 2026
15. California DIR, minimum wage FAQ ($16.90 from January 1, 2026)
16. UC Berkeley Labor Center, inventory of city and county minimum wage ordinances (modified September 30, 2026)