(a) (1) Commencing January 1, 2009, a pilot project shall be established in five consenting counties that provides severely impaired recipients who receive in-home supportive services under this article through the public authority, as described in Section 12301.6, with a choice of receiving services through the public authority or receiving services through a voluntary nonprofit or proprietary agency pursuant to Section 12302. The pilot project shall be developed to provide services to severely impaired recipients, as described in Section 12303.4.

(2) To accomplish this end, the five consenting counties shall administer the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program through a public authority pursuant to Section 12301.6.

(3) (A) Following the submission of input and recommendations of the IHSS advisory committee for the county, each participating county, with the consent of the public authority in that county, or the public authority, with the consent of the participating county, shall contract with a voluntary nonprofit or proprietary agency, pursuant to Section 12302.

(B) Severely impaired recipients in each participating county may continue to receive supportive services through the county’s public authority, or may choose to receive services through the voluntary nonprofit or proprietary agency, pursuant to paragraph (1). Recipients who choose to receive services through the voluntary nonprofit or proprietary agency shall be compensated only for those services described in the recipients’ then-existing care plan, as approved by the county social worker.

(4) Administrative costs of the pilot project, including the cost of developing guidelines other than the guidelines in this section and the cost of administering the project and providing oversight, shall not be paid by the state. Instead, an estimate of administrative costs shall be included in the county request for proposal for each contract with the voluntary nonprofit or proprietary agency and administrative costs shall then be paid by the agency up to the amount estimated unless the county and agency reach an alternative cost-sharing agreement in the contract that does not involve state participation.

(b) (1) (A) For purposes of this section, to the extent possible, all providers employed by the voluntary nonprofit or proprietary agency shall be persons previously listed on the public authority’s registry. The agency shall, pursuant to the contract, continually recruit and provide the public authority with names of new workers for the registry.

(B) The voluntary nonprofit or proprietary agency in each participating county shall provide for training for all providers recruited pursuant to this paragraph. A public authority may retain the voluntary nonprofit or proprietary agency to provide these services for and under the direction of the public authority. A public authority shall not be eligible to receive reimbursement for any costs associated with administering the pilot project. This shall not prohibit any public authority from using the funding it receives pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) for newsletters and other means of communication about training opportunities available through the voluntary nonprofit or proprietary agency.

(C) All providers employed by the voluntary nonprofit or proprietary agency shall be paid no less than the wages and benefits provided for in the public authority’s collective bargaining agreement, provided that this provision shall not obligate the state to participate in a contract rate higher than the maximum allowable contract rate. However, providers employed by the voluntary nonprofit or proprietary agency are not covered by any existing collective bargaining agreements with the public authority.

(2) A voluntary nonprofit or proprietary agency that contracts with a participating county pursuant to subdivision (a) shall perform all of the following duties:

(A) Maintain a live, on-call emergency service response system that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

(B) Replace or supplement providers for a recipient who needs immediate service for the sake of preserving his or her health or safety within two hours of notification.

(C) To the extent possible, employ the recipient’s preferred provider or providers.

(D) If required by the county, provide emergency backup services to severely impaired IHSS recipients when there is an unexpected interruption in services.

(E) Maintain a list of its providers with the public authority.

(F) Establish and maintain an upskilling program, based on practices in existing agency contracts, wherein employees may have the opportunity to use work experience and training toward upward movement on a long-term care career ladder. Any costs associated with the development and maintenance of the upskilling program shall be paid solely by the voluntary nonprofit or proprietary agency.

(G) Be liable for any fraud, waste, or abuse for which it is responsible.

(3) For the duration of the pilot project, supportive services not provided in any month due to hospitalization, illness, refusal, or other cause not within the control of the provider shall not be made up in a subsequent period without caseworker approval.

(c) (1) In each participating county, the IHSS advisory committee, as described in Section 12301.3, shall monitor the pilot program.

(2) Each participating county shall not be eligible to receive state reimbursement of administrative costs associated with monitoring the pilot program. Any administrative costs incurred by a public authority for monitoring the pilot project shall be paid to the public authority pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a). Any advisory committee expenses incurred as a result of this pilot project, if determined to be reimbursable to the county, shall be reimbursed with the current advisory committee allocation.

(3) Each county pilot project shall continue for four years, provided that if a county takes action to terminate a contract for cause, as defined in the contract, it may then terminate its participation in the pilot project. By the end of the third year, each participating county shall provide for an independent evaluation to assess the success of the pilot program, based on all of the following criteria:

(A) Consumer satisfaction.

(B) Cost-effectiveness.

(C) Average turnover of providers.

(D) The effect of the pilot project on non-IHSS vendors, workers, and referral agencies.

(E) Worker satisfaction.

(F) The extent to which counties identify, refer to, and work with appropriate agencies in investigation, administrative action, or prosecution of instances of fraud, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 12305.8, in the provision of supportive services.

(d) All costs associated with the independent evaluation shall be paid solely by the voluntary nonprofit or proprietary agency.

(e) The independent evaluation shall be sent directly to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature.

(f) County social workers shall continue to establish eligibility, needs, and frequency of service and serve as recipient advocates, as appropriate.

(Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 140, Sec. 196. (AB 1164) Effective January 1, 2010.)