How to Fill Out and Submit Form SOC 838: IHSS Authorized Hours Assignment

Form SOC 838 is the California In-Home Supportive Services form a recipient uses to tell the county how to divide authorized monthly hours among two or more providers. You fill out one form for each active provider, list the hours that provider may work, sign it along with the provider, and submit it to your county IHSS office. Once processed, no provider’s timesheets will be paid above the hours listed on their SOC 838, and the assignment stays in place until you replace it.¹

When You Need to File SOC 838

If you have a single provider, you generally do not need this form. The county assigns all authorized hours to that provider by default. SOC 838 becomes necessary when more than one provider is active on your case and you need to tell the county how the hours split between them. Typical situations include adding a second caregiver for days your primary provider cannot work, bringing on a family member alongside another provider, or dividing care between two people in your household.

You also need a fresh SOC 838 any time the arrangement changes. The previous assignment stays on file until you replace it, and there is no automatic reset at the start of a new month or benefit year.¹

How to Fill Out the Form

The form is one page and can be downloaded from the California Department of Social Services website. As the recipient, you complete these fields:

IHSS Recipient Case Number, from your Notice of Action or other IHSS correspondence.
Your full legal name.
The provider’s full legal name.
The provider’s identification number, which they receive after completing enrollment (typically about six weeks after their enrollment appointment).²
Hours assigned per month for that provider.

Fill out a separate SOC 838 for every active provider. Two providers means two forms, three providers means three, and so on.³

Signatures

You sign and date as the recipient. If you cannot sign for yourself, an authorized representative signs and lists their relationship to you and a phone number. The provider also signs and dates the form to acknowledge the hours assigned.¹

County Use Only Section

The bottom of the form is reserved for county staff, who record the social worker’s name and ID, the effective date, and any comments. Leave this section blank.

Two Ways to Divide Your Hours

The county gives you flexibility in how to allocate hours, and the method you choose affects how much you have to manage month to month.

The first option is to assign your full authorized monthly total to every provider. Each provider’s SOC 838 shows the entire monthly amount, and either provider can work up to the full total in any given month. This lets you shift hours between them week to week without notifying the county. The tradeoff is that you have to track their combined hours so they never exceed your authorization. If their timesheets together go over your monthly total, one provider will not be paid for the excess.³

The second option is to split the total into specific fixed amounts, such as 120 hours to one provider and 80 to another. Each provider’s timesheets are capped at that share. It is simpler to manage because neither provider can accidentally bill beyond their allotment, but it is less flexible. If one provider is sick and cannot work their hours that month, the other cannot pick up the slack without a new SOC 838 on file.

Whichever option you use, the hours across all your SOC 838 forms must match your total authorized monthly hours exactly.³

Where to Submit the Form

Return completed forms to your local county IHSS office. The California Department of Social Services keeps a directory of county offices on its website.⁴ Most counties accept forms in person or by mail. Some counties include SOC 838 in a packet with other enrollment paperwork when you add a new provider, and in that case you return it with the rest of the packet.³

Once the county receives it, a social worker reviews the information, records the effective date, and updates the system. Timesheets in the Electronic Services Portal will then reflect the assigned hours.⁵

Changing or Canceling an Assignment

An SOC 838 stays active until you file a new one. There is no expiration date and no annual renewal.¹ To change how hours are divided, submit new forms for each affected provider. Common reasons to update:

A provider leaves, and you need to redistribute their hours to the remaining providers.
You add a provider, and, if you are using fixed-hour splits, you need to adjust the existing forms so the total still matches.
Your authorized hours change after a reassessment.
You want to switch between the two allocation methods.

Weekly Provider Limits That Affect How You Divide Hours

Before finalizing the split, factor in workweek caps. A provider serving two or more recipients cannot exceed 66 hours per week across all recipients combined, and going over triggers a workweek violation.⁶

Two exemptions allow higher limits. Live-in family care providers who met specific requirements by January 31, 2016, and who are related to all their recipients as a parent, adoptive parent, stepparent, grandparent, or legal guardian, can work up to 90 hours per week and 360 hours per month. A separate Extraordinary Circumstances Exemption also allows up to 90 weekly hours for providers serving recipients with complex medical or behavioral needs, those in rural areas with limited provider availability, or those who need a provider who speaks their language.⁶ If neither exemption applies and one provider is near the 66-hour cap, adding a second provider through SOC 838 keeps your care covered without triggering a violation.

Ceiling on Total Authorized Hours

The hours you can assign across all your SOC 838 forms are capped at your authorized monthly amount, which the county sets based on your assessed needs. The maximum anyone can receive through IHSS is 283 hours per month, which applies to Personal Care Services Program recipients who receive protective supervision, to certain other subprograms for the severely impaired, or to anyone whose combined service needs reach that level.⁷ Whatever number appears on your Notice of Action as your authorized monthly hours is the figure your SOC 838 forms must add up to.

One boundary worth noting: SOC 838 governs only how hours are assigned. If you live with your recipient and want to self-certify that arrangement for income tax purposes, that is a different form, SOC 2298.⁸

1
California Department of Social Services. SOC 838 – Recipient Request for Assignment of Authorized Hours to Providers
2
Orange County IHSS Public Authority. IHSS Provider Enrollment Processing Timeline
3
Alameda County Social Services Agency. Instructions for Completing the IHSS Recipient Request for Assignment of Authorized Hours to Providers (SOC 838)
4
California Department of Social Services. County IHSS Offices
5
California Department of Social Services. IHSS Provider Resources
6
California Department of Social Services. IHSS Overtime Exemption 2
7
Disability Rights California. Understanding the Maximum Amount of Hours Available – Calculating Hours
8
California Department of Social Services. Live-In Provider Self-Certification Information