Oakland, CA – Following a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken that the State of California is in contempt of court for failing to comply with her injunction requiring the State to ensure that the home care services for approximately 120,000 Californians were not reduced or eliminated, Sacramento County home care worker Maria Sandoval issued the following statement: 

“The judge did the right thing.  Because she stopped the state’s reduction in care hours for seniors and people with disabilities, our clients are able to remain safely in their homes – instead of being forced into more expensive institutions or even hospitals in some cases.

“This is really a matter of life and death, and we will continue fighting to protect our clients and the care they rely on to remain independent – in court, in the legislature, and in our communities. It is time for the state to get on the side of those who need our help.” 

Judge Wilken found that the State had violated the Court’s injunction by failing to ensure that the eligibility records of approximately 3,000 home care consumers were restored in a timely manner, which caused approximately 6,000 care givers to receive timesheets showing that their consumers were now authorized only for reduced hours or for no hours at all. 

To remedy the State’s violation of the injunction, a letter will be sent this weekend to the In-Home Supportive Service (IHSS) providers who received inaccurate timesheets listing reduced or eliminated hours, telling the providers that they should disregard the inaccurate timesheets and should continue to provide the home care services that their consumers are entitled to receive.   And because the judge did not have confidence in the state’s ability to move quickly, the state is required to provide the necessary information regarding the affected providers to the plaintiffs’ attorneys so they can send the letter at the state’s expense.

Additionally, Judge Wilken ordered the state to establish a toll-free number that IHSS consumers and providers can call if they need information about their status. She also ordered the state to call every county on Friday, November 20, 2009 to make sure that they have completed the necessary computer updates to comply with the court’s order.  If the counties have not, the state must make the computer updates itself.  The judge gave the state one day to comply with her order.

This latest ruling stems from a preliminary injunction issued October 19, 2009, by the Court as part of a class action lawsuit filed October 1, 2009, on behalf of low-income Californians who need IHSS to remain safely at home.

Cuts in IHSS services were scheduled to take effect November 1, 2009. The cuts would have resulted in approximately 120,000 losing all or part of the IHSS services they currently receive. The services to be eliminated included helping people bathe, dress, cook and get to medical appointments, which enable seniors and those with disabilities to live independently. Without these services, many would be forced to move to institutional care that costs taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars more than IHSS.


SEIU California is a coalition of over 700,000 janitors, social workers, security officers, home care workers, school and university employees, healthcare workers, and city, county and state employees represented by SEIU local unions throughout California. We come together to build a better California by fighting to pass policies and elect candidates that benefit working families and advance the issues we care about: affordable healthcare, good wages, retirement security for all, a healthy environment, good schools and universities, and stronger communities. We believe that by working together we can build a California where working families can thrive again.