California Department of Social Services - State Hearings Division
Notes from the Training Bureau - December 2, 1998

This ACL clarifies IHSS policy regarding assessing protective supervision for children. This clarification is the result of the settlement of Garrett v. Anderson and Lam v. Anderson court cases.

Counties are required to assess a child’s need for protective supervision if the child has a mental impairment.

The county is required to request a parent or guardian to obtain available information and documentation about the child’s mental impairment, including agency records such as regional center records. The county is not required to independently obtain such documentation.

A county social worker must determine whether a minor needs more supervision because of his/her mental impairment than a minor of the same age without such impairment.

A minor must not be denied protective supervision solely due to age.

A minor must not be denied protective supervision solely because there is no past history of injuring himself/herself. Protective supervision is warranted if the minor has the potential of injury due to his/her mental impairment (i.e., the minor is physically able to move about the house).

The county may not deny protective supervision solely because the parent or guardian leaves the child alone for a fixed period of time, such as five minutes.

The county social worker must consider factors such as age, lack of injuries, and parental absence, together with all the other facts, in determining whether a minor needs protective supervision.