The SOC 862 is the one-page waiver request a California In-Home Supportive Services recipient submits when the person they want to hire has been denied enrollment because of a Tier 2 criminal conviction. Filing it tells the county you understand the provider’s record and want to hire them anyway. The completed form must reach your county IHSS office, Public Authority, or Non-Profit Consortium within ten calendar days of the notice date printed on page one.1California Department of Social Services. SOC 862 – IHSS Recipient Request for Provider Waiver
When You’d Be Filing This Form
Every prospective IHSS provider has to submit fingerprints and clear a California Department of Justice background check as part of enrollment.2California Department of Social Services. SOC 426 – IHSS Program Provider Enrollment Form If a disqualifying conviction turns up within the ten-year lookback, the county denies the provider and sends you, the recipient, form SOC 855B. That notice names the types of crimes involved, directs you to keep the information confidential, and includes a blank SOC 862 for you to return if you still want to hire the person.3California Department of Social Services. SOC 855B – IHSS Recipient Notification of Provider Ineligibility
Confirm It’s a Tier 2 Denial
Waivers only exist for Tier 2 convictions. If the denial is based on a Tier 1 crime (specified child abuse under Penal Code 273a(a), elder or dependent adult abuse under Penal Code 368, or fraud against a government health or supportive services program), the person cannot be hired through IHSS and no SOC 862 will change that.2California Department of Social Services. SOC 426 – IHSS Program Provider Enrollment Form Tier 1 notices do not identify the specific offense.
Tier 2, defined in Welfare and Institutions Code section 12305.87, covers violent or serious felonies listed in Penal Code sections 667.5(c) and 1192.7(c), felonies requiring sex offender registration under Penal Code 290(c), and certain fraud felonies described in Welfare and Institutions Code section 10980.4California Legislative Information. California Code Welfare and Institutions Code 12305.87 Your SOC 855B will say which category applies.
One thing worth checking before you file: if the provider’s Tier 2 conviction has been expunged or they hold a certificate of rehabilitation, they may be able to enroll without needing the waiver at all.2California Department of Social Services. SOC 426 – IHSS Program Provider Enrollment Form Raise that with the county first.
Filling Out Page 1
The county pre-prints most of page one before mailing the form to you: county name, notice date, provider name, and your case number are already filled in. Your job is the crime information table. For each listed conviction, enter:
- Date of conviction
- Penal Code section number
- A brief description of the felony conviction
Pull every entry directly from the SOC 855B that arrived with the blank waiver. Copy the dates, code sections, and descriptions exactly as they appear. Mistakes in this table are a common reason waivers get delayed.
Filling Out Page 2
Page two is a short acknowledgment that you know about the provider’s criminal history and still want to hire them. Sign, print your name, and date it. An authorized representative can sign for you.
One restriction matters here: the provider cannot sign the SOC 862 as your authorized representative unless they are your parent, legal guardian, conservator, spouse, or registered domestic partner.4California Legislative Information. California Code Welfare and Institutions Code 12305.87 If the person you want to hire doesn’t fit one of those relationships, someone else has to sign.
Where to Send It and the Ten-Day Clock
Page three of the form prints the mailing address and the walk-in address for your specific county IHSS office, Public Authority, or Non-Profit Consortium.1California Department of Social Services. SOC 862 – IHSS Recipient Request for Provider Waiver There’s no online filing option. Mail it or drop it off in person.
The ten calendar days run from the notice date in the upper right corner of page one, not the day you pulled it out of your mailbox. Postal time is coming out of your window, so dropping the form off in person is the safer choice when you can. Miss the deadline and the provider stays ineligible; any hours they work for you after that come out of your own money rather than IHSS funds.3California Department of Social Services. SOC 855B – IHSS Recipient Notification of Provider Ineligibility
What the County Does Next
Once the county accepts your waiver, the provider can enroll and start receiving IHSS payment. The county won’t send timesheets until the waiver clears.1California Department of Social Services. SOC 862 – IHSS Recipient Request for Provider Waiver
The approval is narrow. It applies only to you as the recipient and only in the county where you filed. It also only covers the specific convictions listed on the form you signed. If the provider wants to work for anyone else, each additional recipient has to file their own SOC 862. If a new disqualifying conviction later turns up on the provider’s record, you’d need to file a fresh SOC 862 for that one too.3California Department of Social Services. SOC 855B – IHSS Recipient Notification of Provider Ineligibility
If You Miss the Window or Want a Broader Fix
Two other paths exist, but neither is yours to file. A provider who wants to work for any IHSS recipient statewide can request a general exception from CDSS using form SOC 863 within 45 calendar days of their denial notice.5California Department of Social Services. SOC 863 – IHSS Applicant Provider Request for General Exception A provider who believes the background check itself is wrong can appeal the denial directly to the CDSS Appeals Unit using form SOC 856 within 60 calendar days.6California Department of Social Services. How to Appeal if You Are Denied as an IHSS Provider Both of those are the provider’s responsibility, not yours. Your single step as the recipient is the SOC 862, and it needs to be back with the county inside the ten-day window.