What are Waiver Personal Care Services (WPCS)?

Waiver Personal Care Services (WPCS) are provided through the HCBA waiver. Many families use WPCS care to fill in the gaps of the home nursing system. Due to low Medi-Cal reimbursement rates and the chronic shortage of nurses, families can’t always find nurses to cover all of their child’s care needs. Families can use a combination of IHSS and WPCS caregivers to take care of a child in cases where they can’t find a nurse.

Parents are responsible for training WPCS caregivers on how to take care of their child’s medical needs. WPCS caregivers earn the same rate as IHSS workers, which varies by county. WPCS can pay parents and legal guardians for taking care of a minor child, but only in limited circumstances.

For very young children who need round-the-clock supervision for their medical care needs but who can’t qualify for very many IHSS hours because of IHSS rules that make it difficult for very young children to qualify, WPCS can fill in the gaps. WPCS services can also fill gaps for children receiving IHSS whose documented care needs on the IHSS Notice of Action exceed the IHSS monthly maximum of 283 hours.

For more information, see our full article Home and Community Based Alternatives Waiver (HCBA) 101.