IHSS Del Norte County: Crescent City phone number, Public Authority and $19.50 pay

Who is eligible for IHSS in Del Norte County

On Del Norte County's IHSS page, the program is for residents who are aged, blind or disabled, are unable to manage daily living activities, and could not remain safely at home unless someone helps. The county says it works with local caregivers so those residents can remain in familiar surroundings with as much independence as possible. Bathing, dressing, cooking, domestic work, grooming and feeding are the kinds of support it lists.

To be eligible, the county says, an applicant has to:

• live in California, in his or her own home;
• be aged 65 or older, or be blind or disabled;
• already receive Medi-Cal;
• have income low enough to meet SSI/SSP standards; those above the standards may have a share of cost.

Across California, the Department of Social Services (CDSS) will not let services start until the county holds a finished Health Care Certification (form SOC 873). Those rules also say a patient in a hospital, a resident of a nursing facility or someone in a licensed community care home is not living at home.

How to apply: the IHSS Del Norte County phone number and office

To find out whether you qualify, the county says to stop by the office or call 707-464-3191 for an appointment. The Social Services Branch is at 880 Northcrest Drive, Crescent City, CA 95531; its fax is (707) 465-1783. The county pages we read do not list office hours, so call before you go.

A referral can come from someone other than the applicant: per the county, anybody who notices that a person needs in-home help can refer them.

1. Referral or application. Call or visit. CDSS publishes the IHSS application, the SOC 295, in English and other languages.
2. Assessment. A social worker decides what is needed based on the person's medical condition, living arrangement and available resources. Input from relatives, friends or the person's doctor can be part of that assessment, CDSS notes.
3. Health certification. A licensed professional completes the SOC 873.
4. Decision. Under CDSS rules, the applicant hears back with an approval or a denial. A denial gives the reason; an approval spells out services and hours per month.
5. Choosing a caregiver. The county can give an eligible applicant a list of possible caregivers from its registry, or a friend or relative can do the work.

Once a caregiver is chosen, the county says the recipient acts as the employer, supervising the tasks and signing timesheets, while the county arranges the caregiver's pay. CDSS puts the employer role more broadly: hiring, training, supervising and, if necessary, firing. Families hiring for the first time can use the interview questions in our private caregiver hiring guide.

IHSS pay in Del Norte County: $19.50 from September 1, 2026

From September 1, 2026, Del Norte County individual providers earn $19.50 an hour. That figure comes from the county's row on the "IP Effective 10-1-2026" sheet of the CDSS wage workbook, opened on October 16, 2026. That is $2.60 above California's $16.90 minimum wage for 2026, and above the rates the sheet shows for Humboldt, Shasta, Trinity and Siskiyou counties.

CDSS attributes the differences between counties to local bargaining: unions negotiate with the employer of record in each one. In Del Norte County the Public Authority is that employer of record. The rate follows the recipient's county: if you live in Del Norte County but your client's case is in Humboldt County, you are paid Humboldt's rate. Checks are issued by the state, with disability insurance and Social Security deducted where the provider is eligible.

About 6.4% of Del Norte County's labor force was unemployed, on average, between August 2025 and August 2026, according to EDD estimates; in Crescent City the figure was about 8.4%, and for California as a whole 5.3%. Crescent City and Del Norte County are both absent from the city and county wage ordinance inventory maintained by UC Berkeley's Labor Center (revised September 30, 2026). Private care jobs therefore fall back on the $16.90 state minimum. Our county-by-county IHSS pay guide compares all 58.

The Del Norte County IHSS Public Authority

The county's Public Authority page lists five jobs for it:

• managing enrollment of IHSS care providers, including background checks and orientations, plus the employment paperwork between recipients and providers;
• managing payroll for IHSS care providers;
• keeping a registry of care providers who are available to work;
• acting as employer of record for every IHSS care provider in the county for collective bargaining;
• giving providers and recipients information about provider employment.

It is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. Call 707-464-3191 or 707-464-7807 for more information. The page says current and prospective providers can also email the Public Authority about their employment; the address is on that page.

The registry. The county's IHSS page says the need for quality care providers in Del Norte County is great, and it directs caregivers to the Public Authority to be placed on the registry. Eligible recipients can ask for names from that list. Neither page sets out registry criteria such as references or an interview, so ask when you call.

How to become an IHSS provider in Del Norte County

Here the Public Authority handles enrollment, background checks and orientation, because CDSS does none of those tasks directly. The county page does not publish a written checklist, but CDSS lists the steps every county uses:

1. SOC 426. Complete the provider enrollment form and give it to the Public Authority.
2. Orientation. Attend the provider orientation the Public Authority arranges. The county page links its own IHSS Care Provider Enrollment Orientation video, along with a Spanish version.
3. SOC 846. Sign the provider enrollment agreement, accepting the program's rules.
4. Background check. Get Live Scan fingerprints taken for the California Department of Justice's criminal history check (see the next section).

The Public Authority page also links CDSS training videos, in English and Spanish, on Electronic Visit Verification (EVV), signing up for the Electronic Services Portal and logging hours. The parts that are identical everywhere are in our statewide IHSS provider guide. Relatives should also see getting paid as a family caregiver in California.

Live Scan fingerprinting in Crescent City

The Attorney General's directory of public Live Scan sites lists one location in Del Norte County:

With only a two-hour weekly window, it is worth getting the Live Scan request form from the Public Authority early. The DOJ says the rolling fee is set by the site and that state and FBI fees are charged separately, so confirm the total with the Public Authority. Bring photo ID that has not expired.

Timesheets, EVV, hours and sick leave

• Portal sign-up. Providers and recipients register at www.etimesheets.ihss.ca.gov through the "Register Here" link. Timesheets are submitted and approved there, and the portal shows payment status, sets up direct deposit and takes sick leave claims.
• Service Desk. Portal trouble goes to the IHSS Service Desk, (866) 376-7066; CDSS says it answers from 8 to 5, Monday to Friday, apart from major holidays.
• Weekly ceiling. When you work for several recipients, the hours for all of them together are capped at 66 per workweek by state statute, with narrow exemptions.
• Sick leave. For 2026/27 the allowance comes to 40 paid hours, from July 1, 2026, for providers who have logged at least 100 hours of authorized work. Submit claims online or on a SOC 2302. Hours not used by June 30 do not carry over.

Health or dental benefits for Del Norte IHSS providers are not mentioned on any county page we read, so ask the Public Authority.

Reporting fraud. The county's IHSS page lists (888) 717-8302 for suspected IHSS fraud and (800) 822-6222 for Medi-Cal fraud.

Adult Protective Services and aging resources in Del Norte County

Del Norte County APS runs a 24-hour abuse hotline on 707-464-3191, the same number as the main office. Its clients are seniors aged 65 or more and dependent adults between 18 and 64. Social workers investigate abuse, neglect, exploitation and abandonment, and help with referrals for housing, food, clothing and case management. You can also download the state SOC 341 report form and send it by fax to (707) 465-1783, or by mail or in person to Adult Protective Services, 880 Northcrest Drive, Crescent City, CA 95531.

As caregivers, IHSS providers are mandated reporters under state law. Statewide, CDSS's APS line, 1-833-401-0832, reaches county APS staff around the clock once you key in a ZIP code.

The California Department of Aging assigns Del Norte County to the Area 1 Agency on Aging, 333 J Street, Eureka, phone (707) 442-3763. The county's Adult and Family Services page links that agency, the Del Norte Senior Center and its senior nutrition programs, Redwood Coast Transit, and the Friendship Line.

IHSS in Crescent City and across Del Norte County

All the county's IHSS, APS and Public Authority contacts lead back to the Northcrest Drive building in Crescent City, so the first call is the same wherever in the county you live. An IHSS notice sets a monthly maximum. Overnight care, extra help after a hospital stay or cover when the regular provider is off is arranged privately, on whatever pay and schedule the family and caregiver settle.

• Caregivers: caregiver jobs in Del Norte County and home health aide jobs in Crescent City.
• Families: in home care in Del Norte County and senior care in Crescent City.

A family can advertise that private work on CaregiverConnect without paying to post. Caregivers send applications, and the family does its own interviewing and hiring, becoming the employer. Nothing is deducted from caregiver pay as commission. Background screening is not part of our service, but caregivers can upload evidence of a check they arranged themselves. Some tools are on optional paid plans, and our guide to what in-home care costs in California helps with planning. Listings on the Del Norte pages refresh whenever families publish new ones. When a client's case sits in another county, see IHSS in Humboldt County or IHSS in Siskiyou County.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Del Norte County, In-Home Supportive Services (eligibility, 707-464-3191, registry, recipient as employer, fraud lines)
2. Del Norte County, IHSS Public Authority (functions, 707-464-3191 and 707-464-7807, orientation and training videos)
3. Del Norte County, Social Services Branch (880 Northcrest Drive, phone, fax, programs)
4. Del Norte County, Adult Protective Services (24-hour hotline, ages served, SOC 341 by fax, mail or in person)
5. Del Norte County, Report Abuse (24-hour abuse hotline)
6. Del Norte County, Adult and Family Services (links to Area 1 Agency on Aging, senior center, transit)
7. CDSS, IHSS wages by county (workbook sheet "IP Effective 10-1-2026"; Del Norte $19.50 from September 1, 2026)
8. CDSS, In-Home Supportive Services (eligibility, SOC 295, SOC 873, recipient as employer, payments, APS hotline)
9. CDSS, IHSS provider orientation process (SOC 426, SOC 846, DOJ background check; CDSS does not run orientations)
10. CDSS, IHSS program requirements (66-hour weekly maximum)
11. CDSS, IHSS provider paid sick leave (FY 2026/27)
12. CDSS, Electronic Services Portal registration and IHSS Service Desk
13. California Attorney General, Live Scan locations in Del Norte County
14. California Department of Aging, Del Norte County services (Area 1 Agency on Aging)
15. California EDD, Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS), 12-month average August 2025 to August 2026
16. California DIR, minimum wage FAQ ($16.90 from January 1, 2026)