Since July 1, 2023, providers who do not live with their recipient check in at the start of each visit and check out at the end. The IHSS EVV Mobile App is the easiest way to do it. Here is what it actually records, and what to do on the day you forget.

Who has to check in and out

Non-live-in providers: anyone who has not filed the live-in self-certification (SOC 2298) for that recipient. If you live with the recipient and your SOC 2298 is on file, you still submit electronic timesheets, but you do not check in and out. If you work for two recipients and live with only one, you check in and out for the other.

Three ways to do it, and they mix

You can check in on the app and out on the phone; the methods work together. Anything you check in and out populates your electronic timesheet automatically.

What a check-in records

Three things: the time, the recipient, and the location type: "Home" (the recipient's home) or "Community" (anywhere else, like a doctor's office or the grocery store). When you pick Home, the app confirms your location at that moment. That is the only time it looks: it does not track you during the visit or between visits, and it records nothing when you choose Community.

One detail that puts people at ease: you are paid for the hours you enter, not for the time between check-in and check-out. If you checked in at 9:02 and out at 1:10 but worked four hours, you enter four hours.

If you forget

It happens, and the system is built for it. Before you submit the timesheet, you can fix any missing or wrong check-in or check-out in the ESP with no penalty. Open the pay period, find the day, add or correct the entry, and submit as usual. What you cannot do is submit the timesheet with the day blank and sort it out later; fix it first, then submit. If you consistently forget, set a repeating phone reminder for your usual start time; providers who check in while still in the driveway rarely miss one.

Common questions

Key takeaways

  • Non-live-in providers check in and out for every visit; live-in providers with SOC 2298 on file do not
  • App, ESP website, or the TTS phone line from the recipient's landline; the methods mix
  • Location is confirmed only at check-in and check-out when you pick Home; nothing is tracked in between
  • You are paid for the hours you enter, not the check-in-to-check-out span
  • Forgot? Fix it in the ESP before you submit; there is no penalty