Marin County Municipal Code Ch. 2.39 In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority

The board of supervisors establishes a public authority, separate and apart from the County of Marin, whose powers are derived from and consistent with the provisions of Welfare and Institutions Code Section 12301.6, as may be amended from time to time. The purpose of this public authority is to provide for the delivery of the in-home supportive services program ("IHSS") as specified in this chapter, subject to all applicable federal and state laws and regulations, and to the limitations set forth in this chapter.

(Ord. 3328 § 1, 2001)

For the purpose of this chapter, the following words shall have the meaning respectively ascribed to them in this section:

"Consumer" means a person who is a current or past user of personal assistance services paid through public or private funds, and includes a recipient of assistance from IHSS.

"IHSS" means in-home supportive services as described in Welfare and Institutions Code Section 12300(a), (b), et seq., as amended from time to time.

"Provider" means a person who provides authorized in-home supportive services to a recipient.

(Ord. 3328 § 1, 2001)

(Ord. No. 3536, § I, 2010)

A. Appointment by the board of supervisors. The Authority Board of the In-Home Supportive Services Authority for the County of Marin shall be composed of at least seven and no more than eleven members appointed by the board of supervisors. The board of supervisors shall solicit recommendations for appointment of qualified members through a fair and open process, including reasonable written notice to, and affording reasonable response time from, members of the general public and interested persons and organizations. No fewer than fifty percent of the membership shall be individuals who are current or past consumers of IHSS services. The board of supervisors shall appoint qualified individuals as members of the authority board for a term of three years and the board of supervisors shall have sole authority to remove governing body members. To maximize continuity in the work of the authority, every attempt shall be made to assure that each appointee will be able to serve the full term to which he or she has been appointed.

B. Membership. Membership on the authority board shall be as follows:

1. Fifty percent or less of the membership shall be selected at-large.

2. Fifty percent or more of the membership shall be individuals who are current or past consumers of personal assistance services paid for through public or private funds or through IHSS.

C. Representative capacity. For purposes of Government Code section 87103 and 2 Cal. Code of Regulations 18703.3, it is hereby found and declared that the persons appointed to the authority board are appointed to represent and further the interests of the specific economic interest which an individual member is appointed to represent and each such person therefore does not have financial interests in decisions of the authority that will have a material financial effect on such person or a member of his or her immediate family, distinguishable from its effects on the public generally.

D. Reappointment and limits on service. Each appointment to the authority board shall be for a three-year term. A member may be reappointed for additional three-year terms. There is no maximum limit on the number of three-year terms to which a member may be reappointed.

E. Residency. Qualified applicants must reside in Marin County and have familiarity with, or knowledge of, personal assistance services; or reside in a surrounding county and have experience with the population served by the in-home supportive services program in Marin County; the capacity to understand their role to aid and assist the authority in the administration of its duties; and the ability to attend regularly scheduled meetings, which shall occur only in facilities which meet disability access requirements. Within the first ninety days of being seated, the members of the authority board shall receive orientation and training regarding the functions and duties of the authority, current issues related to delivery of IHSS, and the responsibilities of the authority board. Each subsequent new member shall receive similar orientation and training from authority staff within sixty days of appointment.

(Ord. 3328 § 1, 2001)

(Ord. No. 3536, § II, 2010; Ord. No. 3699, § I, 2018; Ord. No. 3735, § I, 2020)

A. Character of the authority. The Marin County In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority shall be both of the following:

1. An entity separate and distinct from the County of Marin, and shall be required to file the statement required by Section 53051 of the Government Code; and

2. A corporate public body, exercising public and essential governmental functions, that has all the powers necessary or convenient to carry out the delivery of in-home supportive services in Marin County, including the power to contract for services pursuant to Sections 12302 and 12302.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and to make or provide for direct payment to a provider chosen by the consumer for the purchase of services pursuant to Sections 12302 and 12302.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

B. Status of authority employees, providers and officers. Employees of the Marin County In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority shall not be deemed to be employees of Marin County for any purpose.

C. Authority functions. The Marin County In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority shall carry out the following functions:

1. The provision of assistance to consumers in finding in-home supportive services personnel through the establishment of a registry;

2. Investigation of the qualifications and background of potential in-home supportive services personnel;

3. Establishment of a referral system under which in-home supportive services personnel shall be referred to consumers;

4. Provide for training for providers and consumers;

5. Perform other functions related to the delivery of in-home supportive services, including that within thirty days of commencement of the operation of the authority the governing board shall develop a written process to address consumer complaints regarding public authority services;

6. Ensure that the requirements of the personal care option pursuant to Subchapter 19 (commencing with Section 1396) of Chapter 7 of Title 42 of the United States Code are met;

7. Adopt rules and regulations for the administration of the authority consistent with the provisions of this chapter.

D. Service provider employment functions.

1. The In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority for Marin County shall be deemed to be the employer of in-home supportive providers within the meaning of Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 3500) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code, commonly known as the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act. Recipients shall retain the right to hire, fire, and supervise the work of any in-home supportive services personnel providing services to them.

2. In order to assure the preservation of the individual provider mode and limit the liability of the authority, the authority shall have no authority or jurisdiction to regulate, control, or limit the rights and responsibilities of recipients of in-home supportive services to hire, fire or to supervise providers. The right to supervise includes, but is not limited to, the right to determine matters such as work schedules, tasks and duties, assignments and direction of work, methods and standards of caring and conduct, discipline, provisions for safety and security control of premises, any in-home living or other accommodations, and final resolution of concerns, problems and complaints relating to such supervision. Recipients retain such rights and responsibilities independent of the authority, just as they held such rights and responsibilities independent of the county prior to the formation of the authority.

E. Consumer selection of providers. Recipients of in-home supportive services may select in-home supportive services personnel who are not referred to them by the authority. Those personnel shall nevertheless be referred to the authority for the purposes of wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment.

F. State payroll functions.i The creation and operation of the Marin County In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority shall not alter, require the alteration of, or interfere with the state payroll system and other provisions of Welfare and Institutions Code Section 12302.2, for individual providers of in-home supportive services, or affect the state's responsibility with respect to unemployment insurance or worker's compensation for providers of in-home supportive services.

(Ord. 3328 § 1, 2001)

A. Executive director. The Executive Director of the Marin County In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority shall be appointed by the authority board. The executive director may hire staff, if such authority is provided in the authority's adopted rules and regulations.

B. Labor relations. Due to the special and critical health-care services provided through the IHSS program, the board of supervisors finds that any interruption of such services would pose an imminent threat to the health and safety of the recipients of IHSS services and to the community. In order to minimize the likelihood of such interruption and thereby protect the health and safety of recipients and to promote harmony and productive labor relations between the authority and any labor organization that seeks to represent or represents the providers of services to recipients of IHSS services:

1. The authority board shall establish rules and regulations respecting the labor relations responsibilities of the authority, and such rules shall provide that a showing of interest of at least fifteen percent of the eligible providers shall be a sufficient showing of interest for any labor organization to initiate any election or representation procedures established by the authority for the purposes of certifying an exclusive representative for purposes of collective bargaining.

2. Any collective bargaining agreement reached between the authority and any labor organization certified to represent providers of IHSS services shall be subject to the limitations of this chapter and to ratification in its entirety (i.e., all provisions of such agreements shall be subject to the same vote) by a simple majority of the vote cast in a ballot in which all providers of IHSS services, as recognized by the authority, shall be eligible to participate. Final adoption of any such agreement shall be by a simple majority vote of the authority.

3. The authority shall have a nonstrike clause in any and all collective bargaining agreements with providers and personnel of the authority. The nonstrike clause shall continue at least one year beyond the other provisions of any and all collective bargaining agreements.

4. The authority shall take all legal action necessary to bar any strike or other concerted interruption of services to IHSS recipients.

5. In-home supportive services personnel shall be entitled to all of the rights conferred upon them by the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (Government Code Section 3500 et seq.), including the right to be represented in their employment relationship with the authority by an employee organization of their choice and the right to meet and confer with the authority with regard to wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment.

6. Prior to initiating delivery of IHSS through the authority, as described in this chapter, the county and the authority shall enter into an agreement specifying the purposes, scope or nature of the agreement, the roles and responsibilities of each party including provisions which ensure compliance with all applicable state and federal labor laws, and compliance with all statutory and regulatory provisions applicable to the delivery of IHSS.

C. Fiscal provisions.

1. In establishing the authority, the board of supervisors recognizes that the funding of IHSS is the product of a complex relationship of federal, state and county financing, and that the ability of the authority to operate and to negotiate the wages and benefits of the providers of IHSS is contingent upon the availability of adequate funding. Nothing in this chapter is intended to result in payments from the county's general fund beyond the county's annual appropriation for the authority, if any, which shall be an absolute limit on county cost.

2. The authority shall utilize all available start-up funds pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 14132.95, and shall seek to maximize the benefit of any available new or increased noncounty matching federal or state funds or other available grant or foundation funds.

3. The total of all operating costs, wages and benefits proposed or established by the authority shall be consistent with the provisions of the county budget. The authority shall not establish a payment rate, including the costs of wages, benefits, and operation, until the governing body of the authority determines the funds necessary for the payment rate are legally available at no increase to the county's general fund unless new revenue is obtained to offset the increase to the payment rate. The annual appropriation for the authority, if any, contained in the county's final budget for any fiscal year, shall be an absolute limit on county cost for that fiscal year.

4. The authority shall adopt an annual budget.

5. The authority shall not be authorized to expend or contractually or otherwise obligate funds in excess of the limits of its budget as set out in this chapter.

6. Collective bargaining agreements shall limit all cost and economic provisions including, but not limited to, wages, benefits and other operational costs to be effective only to the extent they neither require an increase in net county costs, nor cause or result in a decrease in services hours in order to fund such costs and economic provisions. The authority shall not have the authority to agree to or approve any collective bargaining or other agreement that either requires an increase in net county cost or causes or results in a decrease in service hours in order to fund such costs and economic provisions.

(Ord. 3328 § 1, 2001)

A. Severability. If any provision of this chapter, or the application of any such provision to any person or circumstance, shall be held invalid, the remainder of this chapter, to the extent it can be given effect, or the application of those provisions to persons or circumstances other than those to which it is held invalid shall not be affected thereby, and to this end the provisions of this chapter are severable.

B. Termination. By repeal of this chapter, the board of supervisors may abolish the authority.

C. Annual report. The authority shall submit annually a report to the board of supervisors detailing its functions and evaluating its operation of that year. In addition, such report shall present the authority's specific goals and objectives for the coming year and its plan for meeting those goals and objectives. If, for any coming year, the authority intends to expand its duties, the authority shall present a detailed plan and budget for the implementation of that expansion of duties. Such plan shall be circulated to all interested county departments and community groups prior to presentation to the board of supervisors.

(Ord. 3328 § 1, 2001)