IHSS Stanislaus County: Modesto phone numbers, provider pay and the StanLink2Care registry

What IHSS in Stanislaus County is and who can get it

CSA describes IHSS as help for aged, blind or disabled people who are limited in caring for themselves and cannot live safely at home without assistance. That includes people who could return home from a hospital, nursing home or board and care facility if help were in place. At state level, CDSS presents IHSS as a way to stay out of residential care.

The county's eligibility test has three parts. You must be:

• aged (65 or older), blind or disabled;
• not safe living at home unless someone helps;
• in financial need. If you receive SSI/SSP you meet this test automatically. Other people may also qualify but may have to pay part of the cost of their services, known as a share of cost.

CDSS adds the statewide conditions: California residency, a Medi-Cal eligibility determination, and a home of your own choosing (not a hospital or a licensed facility). A licensed health care professional must complete the Health Care Certification (SOC 873) stating that you need IHSS, and services cannot be approved until the county has it.

Once approved, you are the employer. StanLink2Care puts it plainly: the recipient hires and fires providers, decides their working hours, and checks that each timecard is accurate and claims only hours actually worked on assigned tasks.

Stanislaus County IHSS phone number and how to apply

To apply, call (209) 558-2637 on a weekday between 8 in the morning and 5 in the afternoon. That one number serves IHSS, Adult Protective Services and the Public Authority, according to CSA's list of helpful numbers. What happens next, as the county describes it:

1. Phone intake. Staff take your information over the phone and assign your case to a social worker.
2. Medi-Cal, if needed. If you do not have Medi-Cal yet, a Family Services Specialist comes to your home to help with the Medi-Cal application.
3. Needs and Risk Assessment. At a later date the social worker visits your home. They look at the tasks you need help with and at risks arising from your medical condition and living arrangement, and take into account help you already get from family, friends or community resources. The assessment decides which services you need and how often.
4. Health care certification. Your licensed health care professional completes the SOC 873 before IHSS can be approved.

If you disagree with a decision, CSA links to the state's guidance on asking for a hearing. The IHSS office is at 3525 Coffee Road, Modesto, CA 95355, with weekday hours of 8 to 5. CSA's main office is at 251 Hackett Road, Modesto, CA 95358, phone (209) 558-2500.

Who works for you. You can hire a relative or friend, or someone you have not met. Your social worker's Social Services Assistant can also help you find a provider through the Public Authority.

IHSS provider pay in Stanislaus County: $18.75 from July 2026

From July 1, 2026, the hourly wage for an IHSS provider in Stanislaus County is $18.75. StanLink2Care states the figure on its home page and in its registry FAQ, and the state agrees. Its CDSS county wage spreadsheet, downloaded by us on October 15, 2026, has a Stanislaus row reading $18.75 effective July 1, 2026 (sheet "IP Effective 10-1-2026"). It applies countywide, whether the client lives in Modesto, Turlock, Ceres, Riverbank or Oakdale.

Weekly limits. Under the state's SOC 846 agreement, which every provider signs, any hour beyond the 40th in a week (Sunday through Saturday) is paid at 150 percent of the regular wage. If you serve several recipients, your combined claim tops out at 66 hours per week, while the weekly limit on paid travel time from one client to the next is seven hours. Breaking these limits leads to violations, and a fourth violation ends your eligibility for a year. StanLink2Care posts a sheet on overtime violations for providers.

Sick leave. The state's allowance for 2026/27 is 40 hours, credited from July 1, 2026. A newcomer qualifies after logging 100 hours of authorized services, then becomes able to take the leave after 200 further hours or 60 calendar days, depending on which arrives sooner. The claim form is the SOC 2302.

The local market. In the Modesto metro area, BLS data for May 2025 show 9,160 people employed as home health and personal care aides, earning a median of $16.50 an hour. Rates in nearby counties are in the IHSS pay by county guide; for the county to the north, see IHSS in San Joaquin County.

How to become an IHSS provider in Modesto and Stanislaus County

The route depends on one question: do you already know who you will work for?

You already have a client. If a relative, friend or neighbor on IHSS wants to hire you, call IHSS on (209) 558-2637. Staff give you the paperwork and background check information and book you into the mandatory state provider orientation. You do not need to join the registry. Once your client has chosen you, they call their social worker, both of you complete your parts of the hiring paperwork and return them to IHSS, and you receive timecards when every requirement is met.

You want to be matched with a client. Apply to the StanLink2Care registry (see below) after finishing the state orientation and background check.

Fingerprints and background checks. Every IHSS provider is fingerprinted by Live Scan and checked by the Department of Justice, and StanLink2Care does not pay for this. Results from fingerprints taken for another employer, such as a school district, are not released to IHSS, so you must use the Public Authority's own background check form; call before paying anywhere else. If you already completed the IHSS process in another county, call (209) 558-1650 first. State law excludes anyone convicted of elder abuse, child abuse or fraud against a government health program for ten years, and further disqualifying crimes are listed on the SOC 426C.

Forms you will meet. StanLink2Care's forms list includes the SOC 426 (provider enrollment), SOC 426A (recipient designation of provider), SOC 341A (elder abuse mandated reporter acknowledgement), SOC 829 and SOC 831 (direct deposit), SOC 840 (change of address), SOC 2305 (workweek exemption for extraordinary circumstances), SOC 862 (recipient request for a provider waiver), the SOC 2302 sick leave claim, and the federal W-4. For the state-level picture, read our IHSS provider walkthrough; relatives should also see how relatives are paid through IHSS.

StanLink2Care: the IHSS Public Authority registry

The registry works like an employment referral service. A Registry Specialist interviews each applicant about their skills, and providers record their availability, the areas they can work in and skills such as languages or degrees. When a recipient needs help, staff search the database, for example for someone willing to work in Patterson and help with bathing, and send the recipient a letter naming three matching providers. The recipient calls them and arranges interviews.

Requirements for registry providers. According to StanLink2Care, you must:

• be willing to work in one of the county's underserved areas: Oakdale, Patterson or Newman;
• be willing to work weekends and holidays;
• be willing to give all personal care, including dressing, bathing and bowel and bladder care, to both men and women;
• pay all background check costs and finish the mandatory state provider orientation before you apply;
• be able to perform every authorized IHSS task.

You fill in the application at the StanLink2Care office and then complete the Caregiver Training on personal care, safety and nutrition. The training is required even for experienced IHSS providers, licensed CNAs and home health aides, and people trained through another registry. Call (209) 558-1650 to book the orientation and to ask when the next registry training class runs.

Staying active. Contact the office every month if you have not heard from them, or you are moved to inactive status. When a recipient hires you, call 558-1650 to report the match; a Registry Specialist reviews the case and sends you to the right Social Services Assistant for your hire packet and timecards. StanLink2Care cannot promise full-time hours, but says providers with flexible schedules, willingness to work in outlying areas, or a second language tend to be hired quickly.

For families. If you are already on IHSS and need a provider, ask your social worker, your Social Services Assistant or StanLink2Care for a registry list. Registry providers have passed a Department of Justice check and completed the training.

Who does what: social workers, Social Services Assistants and the union

StanLink2Care explains the division of labor. IHSS social workers are the main contact for recipients: they visit homes and set the authorized hours for each task. Social Services Assistants are the main contact for providers, answering questions about timecards, hire packets and paychecks. CSA and the Public Authority both report to the Board of Supervisors and take advice from the IHSS Advisory Committee, a group of recipients and providers formed in December 2000.

The union. Stanislaus providers are represented by United Domestic Workers (UDW). The memorandum of understanding between UDW and the IHSS Public Authority of Stanislaus County, published on the county's personnel pages, includes sections on health benefits and on a dental, vision and life insurance program; ask StanLink2Care if your hours qualify you.

Stanislaus County IHSS phone numbers and addresses

Finding StanLink2Care: the office is in the Sylvan Square Shopping Center at Sylvan Avenue and Coffee Road, at the east end of the parking lot behind Marie Callender's. Details checked on CSA, StanLink2Care and CDSS pages on October 15, 2026.

Private care in Modesto and Turlock beyond IHSS hours

IHSS in Stanislaus pays only for the services and hours the social worker authorizes. Night-time help, extra weekend shifts, companionship, or relief for a family member who is already the IHSS provider have to be arranged privately. On CaregiverConnect, families post that kind of job for free and caregivers apply to it directly. The family picks, hires and pays the caregiver and is their household employer, at a rate both agree on that meets the minimum wage. CaregiverConnect charges no commission and does not carry out background checks; caregivers can upload proof of their own. Optional premium plans are available.

Families can look through caregivers in Stanislaus County, Modesto caregivers and Turlock caregivers. Providers with spare hours can check Stanislaus County caregiver jobs, jobs in Modesto and jobs in Turlock, or set up a free profile. Private rates are covered in California in-home care costs.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Stanislaus County Community Services Agency, Adult Services (IHSS FAQ, eligibility, 558-2637 intake, Needs and Risk Assessment, IHSS office address and hours, APS and Ombudsman numbers, CSA main office)
2. StanLink2Care, IHSS Public Authority of Stanislaus County (wage from July 1, 2026, registry, requirements, FAQs, forms, address, hours, directions, staff roles)
3. StanLink2Care, Fingerprinting Procedures
4. StanLink2Care, Background Screening (SOC 426C)
5. StanLink2Care, Hiring a Provider
6. StanLink2Care, Registry Provider Opportunities flyer ($18.75 registry, $20.75 emergency back-up)
7. Stanislaus County, Memorandum of Understanding between the IHSS Public Authority of Stanislaus County and United Domestic Workers
8. CDSS, IHSS wages by county (workbook sheet "IP Effective 10-1-2026")
9. CDSS, In-Home Supportive Services (eligibility, SOC 873, recipient as employer)
10. CDSS, SOC 846 Provider Enrollment Agreement (overtime, 66-hour cap, travel time, violations)
11. CDSS, IHSS Provider Paid Sick Leave (FY 2026/27)
12. CDSS, IHSS Provider Resources (IHSS Service Desk)
13. California DIR, minimum wage FAQ ($16.90 from January 1, 2026)
14. BLS OEWS May 2025, Modesto metro area (home health and personal care aides)