Public Authority Services by Sourcewise
The mission of Public Authority Services is to support the independent living and well-being of consumers of the Santa Clara County IHSS program by enabling them to hire the Independent Care Providers of their choice.
Supporting Consumers and Independent Care Providers for over 25 Years
In March 1999, legislation was passed to establish Public Authorities (PA) and Advisory Boards consisting of current and past In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) consumers to provide ongoing input to improve IHSS outcomes for consumers across California.
While a provider registry for IHSS consumers, maintained by the Council on Aging Silicon Valley (Sourcewise’s former name), had existed since the mid-1990’s, Public Authority Services and the Advisory Board, governed by the Santa Clara County (SCC) Board of Supervisors, were officially launched in 1999.
In 1999, IHSS served 5,600 consumers. Since then, the number of consumers has grown over 570% to over 37,700 consumers, and the PA team has grown from a team of 8 to 24 dedicated employees. SCC was the second county in California to offer health benefits to IHSS Independent Providers (IPs) and, to date, has one of the richest benefits packages, which includes health, dental, vision, and transportation benefits. PA is proud to administer benefits for over 14,000 IPs.
From the beginning, PA has prioritized innovation. In its first three years, PA:
- Facilitated the first consumer conference in 2001, with over 175 consumers, IPs, and human services professionals. Topics included community-based care amid the growing older adult population, consumer eligibility, the future of IHSS from a local, state, and national perspective, and more.
- Performed a detailed research study to assess the needs of IHSS consumers.
- Hosted a statewide workshop to exchange best practices, explore policies, and encourage development of additional PA programs throughout the state with over 150 attendees representing 54 of the state’s 58 counties.
- Helped develop a statewide Registry Managers Group to collaborate on best practices.
- Assisted in developing software to manage Registry matches.
- Improved training available to IHSS staff and developed relevant materials in non-English languages in written documents and videos.
Now, over 25 years after its launch, SCC PA continues to be a model organization with efficient process and procedures for benefits administration; 15 provider training classes that support providers in improving their caregiving skills; annual IP appreciation event; recruitment and outreach activities and events in senior living communities, adult education schools, and supportive housing complexes; an effective IP enrollment process that enrolls on average 600 IPs monthly; piloting in-person digital literacy training for consumers and providers; and a very active and involved Advisory Board.
We expect that Public Authority Services of SCC will continue to be a model and innovator in the IHSS space for the next 25 years and beyond. As always, we welcome consumer input to improve the IHSS program and encourage consumers to join the Advisory Board so your voice is heard and represented.