IHSS Yolo County: Woodland and West Sacramento intake lines, registry and $19.05 pay

Who can get IHSS in Yolo County and what it pays for

The county describes IHSS as a program paid for with federal, state and local money for aged, blind and disabled people on Medi-Cal who cannot stay safely at home without help. It also reaches people in a hospital, nursing home or board-and-care home who could go back home if support were arranged, and the county calls IHSS an alternative to out-of-home care.

The Yolo page names the services a social worker can authorize, among them:

• bathing, dressing, grooming, feeding and bowel and bladder care;
• help walking (ambulation) and transferring;
• cooking, housecleaning, laundry, shopping and errands;
• going with the recipient to medical appointments;
• watching over a person who is not self-directing or is mentally impaired, so they are kept from injury;
• paramedical services, within specific limits.

To qualify, the recipient has to be at least 65, or blind, or disabled; has to be someone who cannot live safely at home unaided; and has to have Medi-Cal. Anyone without Medi-Cal is pointed to the county Medi-Cal page to apply first. The needs assessment happens in the applicant's home before anything is authorized, and the county repeats it every 12 months.

Yolo County IHSS phone number and offices

Yolo County takes IHSS applications by phone. Call either intake line; the county says the process has several steps and its staff will help you through them.

Both offices list the same fax, (530) 661-2763.

What happens after the call follows the state process:

1. Medi-Cal. The applicant must have it or apply for it.
2. Health Care Certification. CDSS says a completed SOC 873 has to reach the county before any services are authorized, so get the form to the applicant's doctor or other licensed health professional promptly.
3. Home visit. A Yolo social worker assesses needs in the home.
4. Written decision. A notice follows. CDSS says an approval sets out the services and hours, while a denial explains why.

Once services are approved, CDSS makes the recipient the employer: the person who picks the provider, trains and supervises them, and can let them go. The Public Authority repeats the point: the consumer, not the Public Authority, is the employer. For interviewing and putting terms in writing, our private caregiver hiring guide applies just as well to IHSS.

IHSS pay in Yolo County: $19.05 an hour

When we checked the CDSS county wage workbook on October 15, 2026, its "IP Effective 10-1-2026" tab showed Yolo County individual providers at $19.05 an hour, effective January 1, 2026; the Public Authority's provider page gives the same figure. Sorted from highest to lowest, Yolo is 23rd of the 58 counties in that sheet.

No Davis, Woodland or West Sacramento ordinance, and no Yolo County one, appears in the Labor Center's July 1, 2026 inventory of local minimum wages (UC Berkeley), which leaves $16.90 as the minimum for private home care in the county. The Yolo IHSS rate sits $2.15 above it (our arithmetic). For context, BLS estimates for May 2025 put employment of home health and personal care aides at 60,350 across the Sacramento–Roseville–Folsom metro area, which takes in Yolo; the median hourly wage was $16.50 and the mean $17.20.

Back-up differential. Providers who cover shifts through the Public Authority's back-up programs may earn an extra $2.00 an hour, but only while the consumer still has back-up hours available.

Sick leave and weekly limits. The Public Authority page still mentions up to 24 hours of sick leave a year; for fiscal 2026/27 CDSS sets the allowance at 40 hours. It accrues once you have worked 100 IHSS hours and is claimed on paper with the SOC 2302 or online in the ESP. Working for more than one recipient? Your combined limit is 66 hours weekly, with limited exemptions. The statewide picture is in our IHSS pay by county table.

How to become an IHSS provider in Yolo County

In Yolo, the starting point for a new caregiver is a call to the Public Authority on (530) 661-2676. Staff send the orientation details and the new provider packet, and can walk you through the online part of enrollment, which works on a computer, tablet or phone.

1. Online orientation and enrollment. Complete the state-required IHSS provider orientation and enrollment online. CDSS requires each provider to sign two forms: SOC 426, the enrollment form, which is returned locally rather than mailed to CDSS, and SOC 846, the provider agreement.
2. In-person orientation and appointment. Bring a valid government-issued ID, your original Social Security card, proof that you may work in the U.S. if that applies, and a work permit if you are a minor.
3. Department of Justice background check. You pay for the Live Scan fingerprinting yourself. CDSS lists the convictions that bar someone from IHSS work on form SOC 847, and if your application is denied you may be able to appeal.

The Public Authority reminds new providers that IHSS caregivers are mandated reporters of suspected abuse or neglect.

Timesheets. Every provider must log time by Electronic Visit Verification, CDSS says: through the ESP website, through TTS on the recipient's landline, or through the IHSS EVV mobile app, checking in and out and marking each visit as home or community. Live-in providers may self-certify using the SOC 2298. The IHSS Service Desk, (866) 376-7066, answers portal and timesheet questions on weekdays. Steps that are identical statewide are covered in our IHSS provider walkthrough.

IHSS Public Authority Yolo County: registry and referrals

The Public Authority describes itself as a public agency set up to improve IHSS, chiefly by running a registry that connects consumers with caregivers. The county adds that it trains consumers and providers and negotiates wages and benefits for Yolo providers. Its office is inside the Health and Human Services Agency building at 25 N. Cottonwood Street, Woodland; walk-in hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., appointments are encouraged, and from the lobby you dial extension 2676 on a lobby phone. Email YoloCountyPA@yolocounty.gov.

Getting a referral list (families)

Registry lists are free for anyone approved for IHSS. Staff first take an intake on the consumer's needs and preferences, then a computer program matches providers by location, language, the personal and domestic tasks needed, schedule and other job details. You receive the list and do the interviewing and hiring yourself. Ask on (530) 661-2676 or by email.

Joining the registry (caregivers)

The Yolo registry asks more of applicants than basic enrollment does. After phoning (530) 661-2676 for an application, expect:

• a Registry or Home Care Now orientation;
• IHSS new provider orientation and the DOJ Live Scan, unless you are already an active provider;
• a regional criminal background check run by the Public Authority;
• an interview with staff, booked once the earlier steps are done;
• drug, cannabis and alcohol screening, a negative tuberculosis test and employment reference checks.

The registry suits long-term work; you set your availability and the tasks you will take on.

Home Care Now and back-up caregivers

When a regular provider is sick or away, a Yolo consumer can ask the Public Authority for a temporary caregiver. Two programs sit behind that request, and staff decide which one applies, combining them where they can:

• Home Care Now. A free, locally funded back-up referral program. Providers who accept a referral get a $20 stipend plus round-trip mileage to the consumer's home. To join it, a caregiver needs CPR/First Aid training and at least two years' caregiving experience.
• State Back-Up Provider Program. Formalized by CDSS in late 2022, it pays back-up providers a $2.00 hourly differential for 80 or 160 hours per consumer, depending on how vulnerable the consumer has been assessed to be. These are not extra authorized hours; the IHSS authorization stays the same.

Requests are filled first come, first served, and a back-up caregiver is not always free, so the Public Authority suggests naming a relative, friend or neighbor as a fallback; it can help that person enroll.

Health benefits and union representation

Yolo IHSS providers may qualify for medical and vision and/or dental coverage for a monthly copay. The Public Authority's threshold is 80 or more hours monthly for three months in a row; it enrolls on a first come, first served basis, and says there is currently a waitlist, so call early if you expect to qualify.

Union representation comes automatically: the county IHSS page says SEIU Local 2015 represents IHSS providers on pay, benefits and some employment terms, and membership is open to them as an extra step. For membership questions, phone the SEIU 2015 Member Action Center at 855-810-2015.

IHSS for Davis, Woodland and West Sacramento

The two IHSS offices are in Woodland and West Sacramento, and the Public Authority is in Woodland only. Davis, Winters, Esparto and Clarksburg have no IHSS office of their own, but because applications start by phone and much of provider enrollment is online, the process and the $19.05 rate are the same anywhere in the county.

• Davis: caregiver jobs in Davis and in home caregivers in Davis.
• Woodland: Woodland caregiver jobs and home care in Woodland.
• West Sacramento: private caregiver jobs in West Sacramento and caregivers in West Sacramento.

County-wide: in-home caregiver jobs in Yolo County and find caregivers in Yolo County. If the person receiving care lives across a county line, the rules and pay of that county apply: see IHSS Sacramento County, IHSS Solano County or IHSS Sutter County.

Yolo County IHSS contact list

Yolo APS serves people 60 and older and dependent adults aged 18 to 59. Mandated reporters who phone in a report must follow it with a written SOC 341 or SOC 342 within two working days (APS fax (530) 207-3309), or they can file a non-emergency report online during weekday office hours. In an emergency, call 911.

Help outside the authorized IHSS hours

Monthly IHSS hours rarely cover everything. Families often want someone for nights, for the weeks following a hospital discharge, or for days when neither the regular provider nor a back-up is free. That time is a private arrangement, with pay and hours agreed between family and caregiver.

On CaregiverConnect, a Yolo family can post such a job free of charge. Interested caregivers respond to the post, and the family holds the interviews, makes the hire and takes on the employer role. Nothing is deducted from what the caregiver earns. Screening is up to the family: CaregiverConnect runs no background checks, but a caregiver is free to post proof of a screening they arranged. Some features sit on optional paid plans. For budgeting, our in-home care cost guide for California collects published rates, and a Yolo IHSS provider who has room for more work can list themselves for free.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Yolo County HHSA, In-Home Supportive Services (services, eligibility, Woodland and West Sacramento intake lines, fax, hours, fraud line, SEIU 2015)
2. Yolo County HHSA, Adult Protective Services (ages served, 24-hour line, toll-free line, SOC 341/342, fax)
3. Yolo County IHSS Public Authority, Working as an IHSS Provider ($19.05 wage, $2.00 differential, enrollment documents, health benefits rule)
4. Yolo County IHSS Public Authority, IHSS Provider Recruitment (orientation, DOJ check, mandated reporting)
5. Yolo County IHSS Public Authority, Join the Registry (application and screening steps)
6. Yolo County IHSS Public Authority, Requesting a Referral (free lists, matching, consumer as employer)
7. Yolo County IHSS Public Authority, Back-Up Caregiver Programs (Home Care Now stipend, state back-up hours)
8. Yolo County IHSS Public Authority, Contact Us (address, walk-in hours, lobby extension, email)
9. CDSS, IHSS wages by county (workbook sheet "IP Effective 10-1-2026"; Yolo $19.05 from January 1, 2026)
10. CDSS, In-Home Supportive Services (SOC 873, approval notice, recipient as employer, APS hotline)
11. CDSS, IHSS provider orientation process (SOC 426, SOC 846, DOJ background check)
12. CDSS, IHSS program requirements (66-hour weekly maximum)
13. CDSS, IHSS provider paid sick leave (40 hours for FY 2026/27, SOC 2302, Service Desk)
14. CDSS, Electronic Visit Verification for recipients and providers (ESP, TTS, mobile app, SOC 2298)
15. California DIR, minimum wage FAQ ($16.90 from January 1, 2026)
16. UC Berkeley Labor Center, inventory of local minimum wage ordinances (no Yolo County locality, July 1, 2026 table)