IHSS Butte County: phone numbers, the Oroville office and the $17.90 provider wage

What IHSS covers in Butte County and who it is for

Butte County Adult Services describes IHSS as physical support for aged, blind or disabled adults, and for children with a disability, who could not otherwise stay safely in their own homes. The person who receives services (the recipient) hires that caregiver, and under state rules is treated as the employer, with the job of hiring, training, supervising and, if needed, letting the caregiver go.

A county social worker visits the home, assesses which tasks are needed and how many hours a month to authorize. The decision arrives as a Notice of Action. The Public Authority's provider handbook explains that the Notice shows the recipient's IHSS case number, is reviewed every year, and is the document both sides should check before anyone writes hours on a timesheet: claiming time for tasks that were not authorized can be treated as fraud. If a recipient's needs grow, the handbook says to ask the social worker named on the Notice for a reassessment.

A statewide CDSS rule also applies: no hours are authorized until the county has received form SOC 873, the Health Care Certification, signed off by a licensed health care professional.

Butte County IHSS phone number: which line to call

Butte County's IHSS pages list several numbers, and each one is tied to a different job. In the order you are likely to need them:

• To apply (intake): the Public Authority site tells anyone who is not yet approved to call IHSS intake on 530-552-6162 and to leave a name and number if nobody picks up. The county's own IHSS page gives 530-552-6161 for applying or learning more about the program.
• Adult Services main line: 530-538-7538, or toll free 855-398-8899, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The county lists these two numbers for IHSS, for the Public Authority and for Adult Protective Services alike. The IHSS fax is 530-538-5093.
• Public Authority registry: 530-552-6163 for a registry application, or email DESSPublicAuthority@buttecounty.ca.gov.
• Electronic timesheet help: the county IHSS page points providers and recipients to 530-552-6161.

How to become an IHSS provider in Butte County: five steps

The Public Authority runs provider orientation and enrollment for new providers and for anyone whose IHSS provider status has lapsed. Before you start, one of two things must be true: an IHSS recipient has already been approved and wants to hire you, or your registry application has been approved. Its enrollment page sets out five steps.

1. Enroll online. Make sure your name matches your government photo ID and Social Security card exactly. Create the online account (note down your username, password and security answers), watch the mandatory orientation videos, review the documents, and sign the SOC 426 (IHSS Provider Enrollment) and SOC 846 (Provider Enrollment Agreement) electronically. In the same session you request Live Scan service and book an in-person enrollment appointment.
2. Attend the in-person appointment. Bring an original, valid government-issued photo ID (a driver's license or passport) and your original Social Security card. Both are required and the names have to match.
3. Complete the background check. Use the Butte County Live Scan form, which you can print from your enrollment account or collect at the appointment, and take it to a Department of Justice approved fingerprint site. You pay that site directly: its rolling fee plus the DOJ fee. The DOJ's applicant status website shows where your check stands.
4. Get designated by your recipient. The recipient completes form SOC 426A, Recipient Designation of Provider, and returns it to the Butte County IHSS office. You also need an IRS Form W-4 for each recipient you work for.
5. Finish enrollment. The portal asks for your client's name and IHSS case number. The Public Authority warns that your appointment is canceled until that information has been entered and verified.

Our how to become an IHSS provider guide explains the statewide rules, including Tier 1 and Tier 2 offenses.

After orientation: the 90-day deadline, Live Scan and your provider number

The Public Authority's provider certification handbook (revised May 2024) fills in what happens once you leave the appointment.

• Ninety days. You have 90 days from the orientation date to clear the DOJ check and register on the Electronic Services Portal (ESP). Miss that and you attend orientation again.
• Processing time. The DOJ can take anywhere from 24 hours to three months. The Public Authority cannot speed it up, and while the DOJ site shows the check as in progress there is nothing more to do.
• Provider number. After the DOJ results are processed, IHSS mails you a nine-digit provider number. You need it to register on the ESP at etimesheets.ihss.ca.gov.
• Back pay. Once you have passed the check, registered on the ESP and been added to the recipient's payroll, timesheets are issued back to your start date.
• Waivers. If a Tier 2 conviction means a waiver is required, the Public Authority sends the paperwork by certified mail to you and the recipient; each recipient you work for signs one.

Unsure whether old fingerprints from another county still count? The handbook says the support line at 855-398-8899 can tell you.

IHSS pay in Butte County: $17.90 an hour

Butte's row in the state wage spreadsheet, on the tab for October 1, 2026 (we checked it on October 15), shows $17.90 per hour since January 1, 2026. The state social services department says pay varies between counties because unions negotiate with a local employer of record, which in Butte is the Public Authority.

Here is how the Butte rate compares with nearby northern Sacramento Valley and foothill counties on the same sheet:

None of Chico, Oroville, Paradise or Gridley is listed in the local minimum wage inventory kept by the Labor Center at UC Berkeley (July 1, 2026 edition), so the state's $16.90 is the general floor in the county. The Butte IHSS rate sits $1.00 above it (our arithmetic).

Overtime and hour caps. The county IHSS page summarizes the federal overtime rules in force since February 1, 2016: hours past 40 in one workweek, counted from midnight Sunday to 11:59 p.m. Saturday, earn overtime. A provider with one recipient can work up to 70 hours 45 minutes a week; a provider with several recipients is capped at 66. Paid time can include waiting at medical appointments and, for a maximum of seven hours weekly, driving straight from one recipient's home to another. Butte also runs an FLSA training for providers and recipients; call 855-398-8899 and choose option 1 to book.

Sick leave. The state allows 40 hours in the 2026/27 fiscal year, which began July 1, 2026. Your allowance arrives after 100 IHSS hours on the clock, becomes spendable after 200 more, and lapse every June 30 if unused. Claim it on the ESP or with form SOC 2302. Compare every county on our IHSS pay by county page.

Butte County IHSS Public Authority and its registry

The Public Authority exists, in the county's words, to give IHSS consumers better access to providers. When wages and benefits are bargained, it acts as the providers' employer of record. It is also responsible for checking the qualifications and background of potential providers, running a referral system that connects providers with consumers, and training both.

Contact: 78 Table Mountain Blvd, Oroville, CA 95965 (physical); P.O. Box 1649, Oroville, CA 95965 (mail); toll free 1-855-398-8899; fax 530-538-5263; DESSPublicAuthority@buttecounty.ca.gov.

Getting on the registry as a caregiver

The registry is a database of screened IHSS providers whose names and phone numbers are passed to approved clients looking to hire. To apply, call 530-552-6163 for an application, fill it in completely, and return it by email to desspa@buttecounty.net or by post to the P.O. Box. Registry staff then run their own background and reference checks and email you the result. If you are accepted, your details go into the database and are referred to consumers whose needs match what you offer.

Finding a caregiver as a recipient

Approved IHSS recipients can ask the Public Authority for registry referrals and then interview and choose. A recipient who already knows the person they want, such as a daughter or neighbor, does not need the registry; that person simply follows the five enrollment steps above.

The IHSS Advisory Committee

An 11-member committee of recipients, providers, community or agency members and county staff makes recommendations to the Board of Supervisors on how IHSS is delivered. Its meetings run 10 a.m. to noon in the Condor Room at 765 East Avenue, Chico; the next one on the 2026 schedule is November 10. Applications to join go through the county's boards and commissions portal.

Rules Butte IHSS providers are expected to know

The certification handbook spells out a handful of rules that cause the most trouble for new providers:

• The recipient must be home. You cannot claim hours while the recipient is in hospital, a skilled nursing facility, a residential care home or jail, and you should not be in the home when they are not there.
• Timesheets are submitted twice a month and must be accurate and complete. Several providers can share one recipient, but their combined hours cannot exceed that recipient's monthly allocation.
• Driving. You are not required to transport a recipient in your own car. If you agree to, show proof of current insurance. IHSS does not pay mileage; a recipient may reimburse fuel, and the handbook suggests a signed receipt for any reimbursement.
• Injuries at work. Seek care at any emergency room in Butte County, say it is an IHSS workers' compensation injury, and report it to IHSS right away. IHSS must give you a DWC-1 claim form within 24 hours of your report.
• Other benefits. If you receive CalWORKs, food stamps, General Assistance, Medi-Cal, unemployment insurance, college financial aid or Social Security, it is up to you to report your IHSS earnings to that agency; the handbook warns that not reporting can be treated as fraud.

Elder abuse reporting and IHSS across Chico, Oroville and Paradise

Every IHSS provider is a mandated reporter. To report suspected abuse in Butte County, call Adult Protective Services, staffed 24 hours a day, on 800-664-9774; it serves elders from age 60 and dependent adults between 18 and 59, and a social worker may visit within 24 hours to 10 days of a report. If you see physical or sexual abuse happening, call 911 first.

The county pages list a single IHSS address in Oroville, and the wage is the same countywide, so living in Chico, Paradise, Magalia, Gridley or Biggs does not change how you apply or what IHSS pays. Our local pages:

• Chico: caregiver jobs in Chico and in-home caregivers in Chico.
• Oroville: Oroville caregiver jobs and caregivers in Oroville.
• Whole county: Butte County caregiver jobs and find caregivers in Butte County.

Across county lines the rules are the same but the offices and rates are not: see IHSS Sutter County, IHSS Yuba County and IHSS Shasta County.

When the authorized hours run out

IHSS money stops at the hours written on the Notice of Action. Plenty of families need more: nights after a hospital stay, weekends, or someone to cover while the regular provider is away. Anything beyond that is arranged privately, family to caregiver.

Posting such a job on CaregiverConnect costs nothing; local caregivers send applications, and whoever the family picks is hired directly, with the family as employer. There is no commission, so the caregiver's rate is theirs in full. Screening is up to the family: we run no background checks, although a caregiver may attach proof of one obtained independently. Paid plans are optional. Typical private-pay rates are in what in-home care costs in California; Butte providers with open hours can make a caregiver profile at no cost.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Butte County Adult Services (IHSS and Public Authority phone and fax numbers, 78 Table Mountain Blvd address, hours, APS 24-hour line)
2. Butte County, In-Home Support Services (IHSS) (530-552-6161, electronic timesheets, FLSA overtime rules, FLSA training)
3. Butte County, Become an In-Home Support Services Provider (Public Authority numbers, registry application)
4. Butte County, Adult Protective Services (ages covered, visit within 24 hours to 10 days)
5. Butte County IHSS Public Authority, home page (employer of record, registry, intake 530-552-6162, registry 530-552-6163)
6. Butte County IHSS Public Authority, Provider Enrollment (five steps, SOC 426, SOC 846, Live Scan, SOC 426A, W-4)
7. Butte County IHSS Public Authority, Registry application process (desspa@buttecounty.net, P.O. Box 1649, background and reference checks)
8. Butte County IHSS Public Authority, Contact Us (physical and mailing address, toll-free and fax numbers)
9. Butte County IHSS Public Authority, IHSS Advisory Committee (11 members, 2026 meeting schedule, 765 East Avenue, Chico)
10. Butte County IHSS Public Authority, IHSS Provider Certification Handbook (Rev 05/2024)
11. CDSS, IHSS wages by county (workbook sheet "IP Effective 10-1-2026"; Butte $17.90 from January 1, 2026)
12. CDSS, In-Home Supportive Services (SOC 873 before authorization, recipient as employer, county wage bargaining)
13. CDSS, IHSS Program Requirements (66-hour maximum for providers with two or more recipients)
14. CDSS, IHSS Provider Paid Sick Leave (40 hours for FY 2026/27, SOC 2302, IHSS Service Desk)
15. California DIR, minimum wage FAQ ($16.90 from January 1, 2026)
16. UC Berkeley Labor Center, inventory of local minimum wage ordinances (no Butte County locality listed, July 1, 2026 table)