Help for Armenian seniors: housing, caregiver pay, benefits

How Section 8 really works in Los Angeles

Section 8 (the Housing Choice Voucher) pays most of the rent for low-income seniors, people with disabilities, and families. The tenant usually pays about 30% of their income; the housing authority pays the landlord the rest. The voucher goes with the person, so you can use it at any apartment or room where the landlord participates.

Which housing authority is yours?

• City of Los Angeles (incl. Tujunga, Sunland, North Hollywood, Hollywood) — HACLA, hacla.org
• Glendale — Glendale Housing Authority (City of Glendale Community Development)
• Burbank — Burbank Housing Authority
• Pasadena — Pasadena Housing Department
• Everything else in LA County (La Crescenta, Montrose, unincorporated areas, most other cities) — LACDA, lacda.org

Each one keeps its own list and opens it on its own schedule. We will post here the day any of them opens, and send an alert to everyone who signed up below.

Voucher housing board free service

Two sides of one problem. Seniors with a voucher who need a room or a unit, and Armenian landlords with a room or unit who accept vouchers. We match them by neighborhood and language, by phone or email, for free. Nothing is published publicly without your permission.

Get paid to take care of your parent at home

In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) is a Medi-Cal program. If your parent is 65+, blind, or disabled, has Medi-Cal, and needs help at home (bathing, cooking, cleaning, medications, rides to the doctor), a county social worker visits and approves a number of hours per month. The person your parent chooses as the caregiver gets paid for those hours. A typical approval is 80–100 hours a month, and severe cases go much higher.

Most Armenian families already do this work for free. IHSS pays for it.

Who can be the paid caregiver

• An adult child, grandchild, sibling, niece or nephew, friend, or neighbor — yes.
• A spouse — only for some kinds of care (such as personal care), with limits. Ask the social worker.
• The caregiver needs a Social Security number and work authorization, a background check (fingerprints), and a short orientation. Immigration status of the parent matters for Medi-Cal; status of the caregiver matters for employment.

How to apply (Los Angeles County)

1. 1Get Medi-Cal first if your parent doesn't have it. Call (800) 541-5555 or apply at benefitscal.com. Most seniors on SSI already have it.
2. 2Call the IHSS application line: (888) 944-4477. Say you want to apply for In-Home Supportive Services for your parent. Armenian interpreters are available — ask.
3. 3Doctor's form. The county mails a Health Care Certification (SOC 873). Your parent's doctor fills it in. This is the step most families drop; don't.
4. 4Home visit. A social worker comes to assess what your parent cannot do alone. Be honest and complete — every task counts toward hours.
5. 5Caregiver enrollment. The caregiver does fingerprints and the orientation, then timesheets go through the Electronic Services Portal (etimesheets.ihss.ca.gov). First paycheck comes after the first approved timesheet.

Typical time from first call to first paycheck: 2–4 months. Hours can be backdated to the application date in some cases, so apply before you're ready, not after.

Find an Armenian-speaking IHSS caregiver free service

Not every family has someone at home to do the care. If your parent's hours are approved but you need a caregiver, you can hire anyone enrolled with IHSS — and the hardest part is finding one who's good, speaks Armenian, and shows up. This is where families find each other, with reviews from families who've actually used them.

The other four programs to check