This year we successfully fought to protect our privacy in the implementation of Electronic Visit Verification (EVV), a federally-mandated program that requires IHSS providers to electronically report certain aspects of the care we provide to our clients each day.

Recently, the federal government issued new guidelines that put California’s planned implementation of EVV in jeopardy. Here’s what we know right now:

• California officials don’t want electronic surveillance. The state of California has made it clear that it is not interested in the expense, hassle and privacy invasion of using GPS like the state of Ohio is using to fulfill their EVV requirement.
• In spite of the new guidelines, California plans to move forward with its implementation as planned.
• Live-in providers may now be exempt from EVV reporting requirements. We will keep you updated on this as it develops.

UDW has fought EVV from the beginning and will continue to fight any policies that infringe on the civil and privacy rights of caregivers and our clients. The work we do is hard enough without having to add extra work or feel like someone is watching us. We will continue to update you as we work to settle the EVV issue once and for all.