IHSS Monterey County: phone number, Salinas and King City offices, and the $21.04 wage

What IHSS covers in Monterey County

The county calls IHSS a non-medical home care program for low-income seniors and for adults and children with disabilities. Instead of moving into a facility, the person who qualifies stays at home and the program pays a home care provider to do the work. The county lists light housekeeping, cooking, laundry, medical transportation and personal care such as dressing, bathing and grooming. Whether you qualify depends on income and resource levels.

Two state rules shape every case. First, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) says a completed Health Care Certification, form SOC 873, must reach the county before any hours can be authorized. Second, once you are approved, you hire your own provider and CDSS treats you as that person's employer: hiring, training, supervising and, if needed, firing are your responsibility. The State issues the paychecks.

Not sure IHSS is the right program? The same branch runs a free information, referral and assistance line where social workers pick up Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. It is the same number as the IHSS line, 831-755-4466.

Monterey County IHSS phone number and how to apply

The Monterey County IHSS phone number is 831-755-4466 in Salinas. The South County office in King City answers on 831-385-7400, and the TTY/TDD line is 831-784-2131. According to the county's Aging and Adult Services page (archived copy dated June 11, 2026), you apply in one of four ways:

1. Phone: call 831-755-4466.
2. Fax the completed application to 831-796-8667.
3. Mail it to IHSS, 730 La Guardia Street, Salinas, CA 93905.
4. Drop it off in person at 730 La Guardia Street in Salinas or at 116 Broadway Street, King City, CA 93930.

The application the county links to is the state's SOC 295, Application for In-Home Supportive Services, in English and Spanish. Paper copies are kept at both offices. After it is filed, plan for the SOC 873 to be signed by a licensed health care professional, and for a social worker's assessment of which tasks you need help with and how many hours a month the program will pay for.

The county also publishes an IHSS Consumer Handbook in English and a Spanish edition, Manual del Consumidor, on the same page.

IHSS pay in Monterey County: $21.04 an hour

In the state's wage spreadsheet for October 2026 (tab "IP Effective 10-1-2026"; our copy is from October 15, 2026), Monterey County pays $21.04 an hour, effective July 1, 2026. CDSS explains that rates differ by county because unions bargain with each county's employer of record.

Ranked by hourly rate across all 58 rows of that sheet, Monterey comes fifth, after San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo and San Luis Obispo. The University of California, Berkeley Labor Center's inventory of local minimum wage ordinances lists no city or county in Monterey County, so the state's $16.90 is the floor for private work here; the IHSS rate is $4.14 above it (our arithmetic, for illustration).

Hours and sick leave. If you work for two or more recipients, state rules cap your combined workweek at 66 hours, with limited exemptions. For fiscal year 2026/27, which began July 1, 2026, providers get 40 hours of paid sick leave. The hours build up once you have done 100 hours of IHSS work; you may start using them once you have worked 200 more hours or 60 days have passed, if that comes sooner. Whatever is left on June 30 is forfeited. Requests go in on paper (SOC 2302) or online in the ESP. Other counties are compared in our IHSS pay by county table.

Becoming an IHSS provider in Monterey County

Monterey County enrolls new providers through an online system and then one in-person appointment. The steps below come from the county's enrollment instructions (archived copy of the PDF dated September 10, 2025). New providers, and anyone who has not worked as a provider in the last 12 months, must finish every step within 90 days of starting.

1. Online enrollment. Enter your details, watch the required orientation videos, sign the documents electronically and book an appointment of about 30 minutes with Provider Enrollment staff.
2. The appointment. Bring your original Social Security card and a valid U.S. government-issued photo ID with the same name on both. If you are not a U.S. citizen, bring proof that you can work in the U.S. Without the documents you will have to rebook. Staff give you a Live Scan form and, if you already care for an IHSS recipient, the SOC 426A Recipient Designation of Provider. They also explain how to set up an Electronic Services Portal (ESP) or telephone timesheet service (TTS) account, which is required.
3. Fingerprints. Take the Live Scan form to any vendor for the Department of Justice criminal background check. You pay for it; the county put the cost at $45 to $70.
4. New Provider Orientation. This covers program rules, payroll and timesheets, and health insurance and other benefits.
5. Paperwork. Enrollment is not completed unless every required document is in within 90 days of your appointment.

Already enrolled in another county within the last 12 months? You do not need to enroll again. Your recipient can call the IHSS payroll staff on 831-755-4466 to file the SOC 426A, or add you through the ESP. To check on your enrollment, call 831-755-4466 and press 3, then 3 again for becoming an IHSS provider.

Timesheets are electronic only; the county stopped providing paper timesheets on March 1, 2020. For direct deposit, mail form SOC 829 to the state's Provider Forms Processing Center or sign up in the ESP. The state provider enrollment process is explained step by step in our separate guide.

IHSS Public Authority in Monterey County: the registry

The Public Authority for IHSS is the county's matching service. It keeps a registry of enrolled providers who want work, compares each recipient's needs with providers' experience and task preferences, arranges training, and helps recipients and providers resolve problems through mediation. An 11-member Advisory Committee appointed by the Board of Supervisors advises it.

According to the Public Authority page (archived copy dated September 14, 2025), an active IHSS provider joins the registry by:

• completing the online Registry application;
• giving two professional references;
• interviewing with a Public Authority social worker.

The page says to apply only after your "Welcome" letter arrives at the end of provider enrollment, and only if you want referrals to other clients. If you plan to work for one person and do not want referrals, skip it. If the person you care for does not yet receive IHSS, call the information and referral social worker on 831-755-4466 rather than applying to the registry. Registry providers can update their available days, times and areas online at any time.

Health insurance. On that same archived page, the Public Authority described a plan through Central Coast Alliance for Health at a $15.00 monthly premium, offered to a limited number of eligible providers who have worked at least 80 hours a month for an IHSS recipient for three consecutive months, with a waitlist when slots run out. Since that capture is from 2025, confirm the current terms at your orientation.

The page also stresses that although paychecks come from the State, the recipient is the employer.

Training and the IHSS Advisory Committee

Aging and Adult Services runs free classes designed around IHSS work. Past topics have included diabetes awareness, disaster preparedness and coping with grief and loss, with sessions held on Zoom. When the training page was archived on February 17, 2026, the next sessions were listed as "TBD", so check the page or ask your social worker for dates.

The IHSS Advisory Committee advises the Board of Supervisors on the program. Its 11 members represent IHSS consumers, and its meetings are open to the public: every other month on the second Tuesday, 1:30 to 3:00 p.m., starting in February (archived copy dated March 14, 2026).

IHSS in Salinas, Monterey, Seaside and South County

Monterey County has two IHSS addresses: 730 La Guardia Street in Salinas and 116 Broadway Street in King City. The archived county page lists no other IHSS office, so residents of the Monterey Peninsula and elsewhere use one of those two or the phone, fax and mail routes above. The wage is the same countywide, and our check of the Labor Center inventory found no local minimum wage ordinance in the county.

• Salinas: main IHSS office. See caregiver jobs in Salinas and Salinas caregivers.
• Monterey: Monterey caregiver jobs and caregivers in Monterey.
• Seaside: Seaside caregiver jobs and Seaside caregivers.
• King City and South County: applications can be collected and dropped off at the Broadway Street office.

For the whole county, see Monterey County caregiver jobs and caregivers across Monterey County. Next door are IHSS Santa Cruz County and IHSS San Luis Obispo County.

Monterey County IHSS contact list

Care the IHSS hours do not cover

The notice of approval sets your monthly hours, and those may not cover everything: evenings, a weekend relief shift, or cover while your regular provider is away. Anything beyond the authorized hours is a private job that you arrange and pay for yourself.

That gap is what CaregiverConnect is for. Posting the job costs a family nothing; caregivers read it and send their own applications. You meet them, pick one and become their employer, and the caregiver keeps all of the pay because we take no cut. Background screening is not something we do, although a caregiver may add documents from a check to their profile. Some extra features are part of optional paid plans. For private rates, see in-home care costs in California. If you are a Monterey County IHSS provider with room in your week, sign up as a caregiver; families can register here.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. County of Monterey, Aging & Adult Services (IHSS application routes, phone, fax, Salinas and King City addresses, SOC 295 links, online provider enrollment, electronic timesheets, Public Authority summary, APS) — Internet Archive copy dated 2026-06-11
2. County of Monterey, Public Authority for In-Home Supportive Services (registry steps, health insurance, employer note) — Internet Archive copy dated 2025-09-14
3. County of Monterey, IHSS Provider Enrollment & Orientation instructions (PDF; five steps, 90 days, Live Scan $45–$70, SOC 426A, phone menu) — Internet Archive copy dated 2025-09-10
4. County of Monterey, IHSS Provider Training Opportunities — Internet Archive copy dated 2026-02-17
5. County of Monterey, IHSS Advisory Committee (11 members, meeting schedule) — Internet Archive copy dated 2026-03-14
6. County of Monterey, IHSS/WPCS direct deposit flyer (SOC 829, Provider Forms Processing Center) — Internet Archive copy dated 2025-09-14
7. CDSS, IHSS wages by county (workbook sheet "IP Effective 10-1-2026"; Monterey $21.04 from July 1, 2026)
8. CDSS, In-Home Supportive Services (SOC 873 before authorization, recipient as employer, county wage bargaining)
9. CDSS, IHSS Program Requirements: overtime and workweek limits (66-hour maximum)
10. CDSS, IHSS Provider Paid Sick Leave (FY 2026/27, SOC 2302, Service Desk, fraud hotline)
11. California DIR, minimum wage FAQ ($16.90 from January 1, 2026)
12. UC Berkeley Labor Center, inventory of US city and county minimum wage ordinances (no Monterey County locality listed)