IHSS Madera County: phone numbers, offices, provider enrollment and $17.90 pay

What IHSS pays for in Madera County, and who qualifies

IHSS is California's alternative to a nursing home or board and care placement: it pays for help at home for aged, blind and disabled residents, children included, who could not otherwise stay there safely. The county's IHSS page (archived copy dated May 17, 2026) says the program serves approximately 1,677 recipients in Madera County with about 1,300 individual providers.

A social worker can approve hours for household chores (cleaning, cooking, washing clothes, buying groceries), for hands-on help with washing, dressing, hygiene and toileting, for paramedical tasks, for accompaniment to doctor visits, and for protective supervision when a cognitive impairment makes someone unsafe alone.

The county lists these conditions for every applicant:

• aged 65 or older, blind or disabled (children can qualify);
• at risk at home without assistance, and within the financial limits;
• full-scope Medi-Cal eligibility;
• a completed Health Care Certification;
• physically present in the U.S., with California residency;
• a home of one's own; the county rules out acute hospitals, nursing and other long-term care settings, and licensed community care homes.

How to apply for IHSS: the Madera County phone number

The county's instructions run in five stages:

1. Phone the Department of Social Services at (559) 662-2600 to complete an IHSS application.
2. Return the Health Care Certification (SOC 873) to Social Services. The county cannot approve a single hour until this form, signed by a licensed health professional, has arrived.
3. In-home interview. A Madera County social worker visits, checks how safely you manage daily tasks, and decides which services you need and how many hours each one gets. Family, friends, a physician or another licensed professional can add information.
4. Decision letter. A denial explains why; an approval spells out the authorized services and the monthly hours for each.
5. Hire your provider. As the county puts it, the recipient is the provider's employer and handles hiring, training, supervising and, if necessary, terminating.

If you have nobody in mind, ask your IHSS social worker for a referral from the Public Authority caregiver registry. Before the first interview, read hiring a private caregiver step by step, which works for IHSS hires too.

Madera County Social Services offices: Madera, Chowchilla and Oakhurst

The Department of Social Services page (archived copy dated August 14, 2026) gives these addresses and weekday business hours of 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.:

The Adult Services number is the same one the IHSS page gives for applications, which makes it the line to try first. People in Coarsegold, North Fork and the other foothill communities have the Oakhurst office closer to home, and Chowchilla has its own counter; ask either one whether IHSS paperwork can be dropped off there before you make the trip.

IHSS pay in Madera County: $17.90 an hour from July 1, 2026

The Madera row of the state's IHSS wage file (the October 2026 individual provider tab, retrieved on October 15, 2026) shows providers earning $17.90 an hour, effective July 1, 2026. That is $1.00 above the $16.90 state minimum that DIR lists from January 1, 2026 (our arithmetic). The county pages we could reach do not explain how the rate is set or name the union that bargains for local providers, so we have left both out; the Public Authority can tell you.

Sorting the 58 rows, 39 counties pay above $17.90 and five others (Butte, Glenn, Kern, Sutter and Tuolumne) match it. Fresno County, across the San Joaquin River, pays 85 cents more an hour. The UC Berkeley Labor Center's inventory shows no local wage ordinance for Madera or Chowchilla, so private home care in either city is governed by the state rate.

Limits and sick leave. Providers who work for more than one recipient are held to 66 hours a week in total under CDSS rules. The sick leave grant for 2026/27 is 40 hours, effective July 1, 2026, and the CDSS help desk at (866) 376-7066 can tell you what you have left. The full statewide ranking is in IHSS pay by county.

How to become an IHSS provider in Madera County

The IHSS Public Authority of Madera County enrolls caregivers, coordinates Department of Justice background checks and keeps the provider registry. Its page (archived copy dated May 17, 2026) sets four basic conditions: you must be a California resident, be 18, show proof of the legal right to work and pass a criminal background check.

The certification process it describes:

1. SOC 426. Fill in and sign the IHSS Program Provider Enrollment Form.
2. Orientation. Attend the mandatory session, offered in person or online, which covers program rules and provider responsibilities.
3. Two references, work or personal.
4. Live Scan. Complete the DOJ fingerprint background check.
5. Identification. Show an unexpired photo ID issued by a government agency, plus your Social Security card.
6. SOC 846. Sign the IHSS Provider Enrollment Agreement, which sets out the rules you agree to follow.
7. Right to work. Provide proof that you may legally work in the United States.

To get an application and an orientation date, an older version of the county's Adult Services page (archived copy dated September 14, 2025) gave (559) 662-8302 for English and (559) 395-0449 for Spanish. The 2026 pages we found no longer print those numbers, so if they do not connect, use (559) 662-2600.

The Public Authority forms page links the state forms in English and Spanish: SOC 426, SOC 846, the SOC 341A mandated reporter acknowledgement, the SOC 2255 and SOC 2256 workweek agreements, the SOC 2279 live-in family overtime exemption and the SOC 2302 sick leave request. Its video page carries the IHSS provider orientation video in English, Spanish and ASL. The statewide sequence is explained in becoming an IHSS provider in California, and family members should see how relatives get paid for care.

Timesheets, EVV and the Electronic Services Portal

Madera County providers record hours electronically. The county's Electronic Timesheet page (archived copy dated June 17, 2026) collects the training material in one place:

• a DSS IHSS timesheet violation training video, in English and in Spanish;
• an Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) video;
• how-to videos for entering and reviewing time in the Electronic Services Portal (ESP) and by phone through the Telephone Timesheet System (TTS), each also in Spanish;
• links to the state's e-timesheet help pages and ESP registration FAQs.

Sick leave is claimed through the same ESP account, and the state help line above handles portal problems.

IHSS Public Authority Madera County: the caregiver registry

The Public Authority describes its job as improving access to in-home care by matching eligible seniors, people with disabilities and children with qualified caregivers, and by supporting good working relationships between recipients and providers. The registry is how that matching happens: recipients without a provider ask their IHSS social worker for a referral, and the Public Authority supplies names to interview.

The 2025 archived Adult Services page also listed the Public Authority's tasks as interview help for consumers, orientation for new providers and help resolving employment conflicts, and its registry list asked for two work references, two personal references and no felony convictions. Those older requirements differ slightly from the 2026 page, so treat the 2026 checklist above as current.

Madera County IHSS phone numbers

IHSS providers are mandated reporters of elder and dependent adult abuse, which is why the SOC 341A acknowledgement is part of the forms list.

Caregiver jobs and home care in Madera, Chowchilla and Oakhurst

The wage and enrollment rules are countywide. Our local pages:

• City of Madera: caregiver jobs in Madera and Madera in-home caregivers.
• Chowchilla: Chowchilla caregiver jobs and caregivers in Chowchilla.
• Whole county, including Oakhurst and Coarsegold: Madera County caregiver jobs and home care across Madera County.

Neighboring county guides: IHSS in Fresno County and IHSS in Kings County.

When IHSS hours run out, a family can post extra shifts on CaregiverConnect for free. Caregivers apply to the post, the family chooses and becomes the employer, and CaregiverConnect keeps no share of what the caregiver earns. We do not screen caregivers ourselves; some upload a background check they arranged. Paid plans are optional. For private hourly rates, read our California home care cost guide; a provider who still has room in the week can open a caregiver profile at no cost.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Madera County, In-Home Supportive Services (archived copy dated May 17, 2026: recipients and providers, eligibility, (559) 662-2600, SOC 873, assessment)
2. Madera County, Public Authority (archived copy dated May 17, 2026: provider requirements, SOC 426, orientation, Live Scan, SOC 846)
3. Madera County, Public Authority (IHSS Providers) Forms (archived copy dated June 17, 2026)
4. Madera County, Public Authority (IHSS Providers) Video (archived copy dated June 17, 2026)
5. Madera County, Electronic Timesheet (archived copy dated June 17, 2026)
6. Madera County, Department of Social Services office locations and hours (archived copy dated August 14, 2026)
7. Madera County, Social Services Hotlines (archived copy dated May 14, 2026: APS hotline, Ombudsman)
8. Madera County, Adult Services (archived copy dated September 14, 2025: Public Authority application lines and registry requirements)
9. CDSS, IHSS wages by county (workbook sheet "IP Effective 10-1-2026"; Madera $17.90 from July 1, 2026)
10. CDSS, In-Home Supportive Services (SOC 873 before authorization, recipient as employer)
11. CDSS, IHSS Program Requirements (66-hour weekly maximum)
12. CDSS, IHSS Provider Paid Sick Leave (FY 2026/27, Service Desk)
13. CDSS, Adult Protective Services (statewide reporting line)
14. California DIR, minimum wage FAQ ($16.90 from January 1, 2026)
15. UC Berkeley Labor Center, inventory of local minimum wage ordinances