Robert Gordon Home Care Policy Analyst, AHVA Home Care
Published June 29, 2026 · 9 min read

OC’s IHSS Caregiver Contract Expires June 30: What 55,000 Orange County Families Need to Know Right Now

The contract governing Orange County’s 48,000 In-Home Supportive Services caregivers — the people who help elderly parents bathe, prepare meals, and stay safely at home — expires at midnight on June 30, 2026. For the 55,000 OC residents who depend on IHSS, this is a moment to understand what changes, what doesn’t, and how to protect your care.

What Is the IHSS MOU — and Why Should Families Care?

IHSS (In-Home Supportive Services) is California’s program that allows elderly adults and people with disabilities to hire caregivers — often family members — to assist with daily tasks like bathing, grooming, cooking, and mobility. In Orange County, the program is funded jointly by the state, federal government, and county, and it is overseen through the OC Social Services Agency and the OC IHSS Public Authority.

The MOU — Memorandum of Understanding — is the labor agreement between the OC Public Authority and United Domestic Workers/AFSCME Local 3930, the union that represents OC’s IHSS caregivers. It sets hourly wages, training support, health benefits access, and other working conditions. The current MOU, which took effect January 1, 2025, runs through June 30, 2026. When the clock strikes midnight on June 30, that agreement expires.

For families, the MOU matters because caregiver wages directly affect who stays in the profession. When wages are too low, experienced caregivers leave for higher-paying work. Staffing agencies struggle to recruit. The families most affected by those departures are the ones who rely on IHSS every single day.

Orange County IHSS caregivers and advocates have been pressing for higher wages and better conditions as the 2025-2026 MOU expires.

What Happens When the MOU Expires?

When an IHSS MOU expires without an immediate successor agreement in place, services do not stop. Under California labor law and the state’s IHSS program rules, caregivers continue working under the terms of the previous agreement while negotiations proceed. This means:

• Your caregiver will continue providing IHSS services on their approved schedule.
• Your authorized IHSS hours remain unchanged — they are set by your care assessment, not by the MOU.
• Caregiver wages continue at the current rate ($18.90/hour base in OC) during the negotiation period.
• The OC Public Authority supplement of $1.25 per hour also continues under the status quo during active negotiations.

What is uncertain is when a new agreement will be reached and what it will look like. Negotiations between the OC Public Authority and UDW were scheduled to begin in February 2026. As of this publication, no successor MOU has been publicly confirmed for Orange County. If negotiations extend beyond the expiration date — which is common — both parties continue under the existing terms until a new deal is ratified.

What the New Contract Negotiations Need to Resolve

The core issue is wages. At $18.90 per hour — plus the $1.25 PA supplement, bringing the effective rate to approximately $20.15 — OC caregivers are already behind comparable counties. Los Angeles County pays $19.64 per hour; San Diego County pays $19.40. Many neighboring counties are approaching $21 or higher. Meanwhile, the cost of living in Orange County continues to rank among the highest in California.

The caregiver shortage data makes the stakes clear. Statewide, IHSS programs have faced persistent recruitment and retention gaps that worsen every year. In Orange County, the shortage has become acute: reports indicate that 77 percent of home care agencies are now turning away potential clients because they do not have enough caregivers to serve them. Families on waiting lists for IHSS matches can wait weeks or months. Caregivers who leave the profession often cite wages that do not cover their own rent in the same cities where they work.

For 55,000 Orange County seniors and adults with disabilities, IHSS is the difference between living at home and entering a care facility.

How the MOU Expiration Fits into the Bigger July 1 Picture

The MOU expiration on June 30 is just one of several IHSS-related developments hitting OC families at the start of the new state fiscal year. Understanding all of them together helps families see the full picture:

The overall picture for OC IHSS families is more hopeful than many feared. The most damaging proposals — automatic IHSS termination when Medi-Cal ends, caregiver hour cuts — were rejected in California’s final 2026-27 budget signed June 26. What families are navigating now is a caregiver workforce in the middle of a wage negotiation, at a moment when that workforce is already stretched too thin.

Why Caregiver Wages Matter to You — Even If You Pay Nothing for IHSS

Many IHSS recipients assume that caregiver wages are someone else’s concern. After all, families with approved IHSS hours typically pay $0 out of pocket — the program covers caregiver compensation entirely. But the reality is more interconnected than that.

When caregiver wages fall behind the market, experienced IHSS providers leave for better-paying jobs. The caregivers who remain are often newer, with less training and less familiarity with the specific needs of individual clients. Families who lose a long-term IHSS caregiver must go through the often lengthy process of finding and authorizing a replacement — sometimes waiting months through the OC IHSS Public Authority registry.

For families in Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Anaheim, Westminster, and other high-density IHSS communities in OC, this shortage is already a daily reality. A caregiver who earns $20 an hour in Orange County can earn $22 or $23 driving a short distance into Los Angeles County. The math is simple, and it leads to attrition that makes already-scarce care even harder to find.

The new MOU that emerges from negotiations this summer will directly shape whether OC can retain the caregivers who are currently serving its most vulnerable residents, or whether more of those caregivers cross the county line for higher pay. Families have a genuine stake in that outcome, even if the MOU itself is negotiated by the union and the county.

Adult children caring for aging parents in Orange County are navigating a system where the caregiver workforce is under significant pressure.

What to Do Right Now: Protecting Your IHSS Access

Even though the MOU expiration does not immediately disrupt your IHSS services, this is the right moment to take a few protective steps. The combination of the MOU transition, the IHSS Backup Provider System ending, and the overall caregiver shortage creates a situation where families who are prepared will fare far better than those who are caught off guard.

Here is your action checklist for OC families right now:

• Confirm your current IHSS authorization letter is up to date and reflects the correct number of approved hours per week
• Have your IHSS caregiver’s direct contact information saved somewhere you can find it quickly in an emergency
• Talk to your caregiver about their plans — are they continuing? Do they have concerns about the contract gap?
• Save the OC IHSS Public Authority phone number in your contacts: (714) 825-3000
• Identify at least one family member or trusted friend who could step in for 1-2 days if your caregiver is temporarily unavailable
• Since the IHSS Backup Provider System ended July 1, confirm you know how to request emergency respite or alternative care directly through the county if needed
• Review your care recipient’s Medi-Cal status and ensure renewal paperwork is current — Medi-Cal lapses can affect IHSS eligibility
• Research at least one private-pay home care agency in OC as a backup option in case you need short-term coverage
• If you are unhappy with your current level of IHSS hours, contact your IHSS social worker to request a reassessment — especially if care needs have increased
• Stay informed: follow OC IHSS Public Authority updates at ocihsspa.com and watch for announcements about the new MOU agreement

What Happens to IHSS If You Lose Medi-Cal?

One concern that many OC families have raised in recent months — especially with all the Medi-Cal changes in the 2026-27 budget — is what happens to IHSS if the care recipient loses Medi-Cal eligibility.

The good news: California’s final budget rejected the proposal that would have automatically terminated IHSS when Medi-Cal is discontinued. Under the system that remains in place, if someone loses Medi-Cal, they can be transitioned to the IHSS-Residual program, which continues their IHSS services for up to 90 days while they work to restore their Medi-Cal or explore alternatives. This is a meaningful protection that was nearly eliminated but survived the final budget negotiations.

If you are concerned that a family member’s Medi-Cal enrollment might be at risk — particularly in light of the enrollment freeze for certain immigrant adults that took effect January 1, 2026 — now is the time to verify their Medi-Cal status with the OC Social Services Agency and ensure renewal paperwork is filed on time. A Medi-Cal lapse does not mean immediate loss of IHSS, but it starts a 90-day clock you want to know about in advance.

IHSS in Orange County: Understanding Your Rights

In-Home Supportive Services is a legal entitlement for eligible California residents — not a grant or a waitlist-based program. If you are eligible for Medi-Cal and meet functional criteria (needing help with personal care, domestic services, or protective supervision), you are entitled to IHSS services. The MOU expiration, budget negotiations, and caregiver shortages do not change your entitlement status.

The most common reason people lose IHSS access is not policy changes — it is administrative lapses. Missing a Medi-Cal renewal deadline. Not responding to an annual IHSS reassessment notice. Losing contact with your IHSS social worker after a move. Families who stay engaged with the administrative side of the program are the ones who keep their services intact through periods of uncertainty like this one.

If you believe you are being denied services you qualify for, or if your authorized hours have been reduced without explanation, you have the right to request a State Hearing through the California Department of Social Services. You also have the right to continue receiving services at your current level while a hearing is pending — a protection called aid paid pending. Knowing these rights can be the difference between maintaining care and losing it during a stressful negotiation period.

Test Your IHSS Knowledge

Frequently Asked Questions About the OC IHSS MOU

Orange County Communities We Serve

AHVA Home Care provides supplemental and primary in-home care throughout Orange County, including families who rely on IHSS and those seeking private-pay options alongside their county benefits.