From 8/6/2012

In case this type of form and policies are helpful, please see below. The County we support in CA is 55 miles wide and I know that Diane Toeves of Respite Inc covers an area twice that size. Reimbursement and liability of transportation to/from family homes, and the transportation of individuals in our care is a frequently discussed issue at our organization. We pay caregivers for mileage as we are reimbursed by the funding agency, but many organizations are not reimbursed, or they have chosen to not pay caregivers for mileage due to the liability issues. CA State Law requires mileage be paid to caregivers who are driving between family homes (“worksites”) and some agencies have tried to get around that by saying that the caregiver employees have set their own schedules and should therefore not be reimbursed, but that is not how Dept. of Labor sees it.

I know that is not exactly where you are headed with the FAQ, but this is part of the equation in CA anyway. I would estimate that over half my workforce would either not continue, or would severely restrict their driving range, if it were not for the State, through the regional center system, continuing the reimbursement for mileage. This would then, in turn, cause families in outlying areas to not have as many options for respite caregivers and we don’t want that to happen. Some preferred caregivers live outside of our County, so we limit the to/from mileage to 30 miles roundtrip, and all activity mileage is capped at 10 miles/day. Anything over the 10 miles/day of activity mileage (i.e. transportating someone receiving care into the community) needs to be in our County for our insurance purposes and the family would reimburse the caregiver directly.

Sharon M. Francis, CEO

Channel Islands Social Services

Ventura County's In-Home Respite Provider