2018 Fee Increases, Additional Requirements for Home Care Organizations and Home Care Aides

California’s Home Care Services Bureau (HCSB) – the licensing and oversight agency for Home Care Organizations (HCOs) employing registered caregivers (Home Care Aides [HCAs]) to private clients – has announced fee increases for HCO licenses and HCA registrations. See California Home Care Organizations Facing Unannounced Inspections and Possible Fees Increase.

Effective January 1, 2018, the fee for new HCO applications and renewals will be $5,603, up from $5,165. Next year, it will cost $35 to register an HCA, up from $25.

The Bureau will make the required forms available at a later date, with no fingerprinting required for renewals.

90 days prior to any HCO or HCA renewal date, the HCSB will send the affected HCO or HCA the appropriate notice, with copy of the HCA notice to any affiliated HCO.

The HCSB also clarified that:

• HCOs must provide five hours of entry level training for all affiliated HCAs before they start work, plus five hours of training in each of the two years of the HCO’s initial license, for a total of 15 hours. Upon an HCA’s renewal, the requirement will be five hours each for year three and four.

• New applicants for HCA registration should submit their application first without LiveScan fingerprint forms. To minimize prior confusions, applicants will then submit the fingerprint information with the now-assigned HCA number.

For further information, contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

Helena Kobrin

July 14, 2017