Section B — Supplemental Documents ~90 min

Required Job Descriptions for California Home Care Agency License

This is a strict CDSS requirement. Your application will be immediately rejected if you do not include formal job descriptions for your core staff (Part B, Requirement 2 of the state packet).

The state needs to see that you have a clear, documented chain of command and that your caregivers understand their physical duties.

You must, at an absolute minimum, draft descriptions for these three mandatory roles:

1. The Administrator: The person running the day-to-day operations and ensuring state compliance.

2. The Designee: The person authorized to act when the Administrator is absent (this title must identically match the role on your HCS 308 form).

3. The Affiliated Home Care Aide (Caregiver): The person providing the actual non-medical, custodial care in the client's home.


The "One-Page" Rule

You do not need a 10-page corporate HR manifesto. A clean, 1-page document for each role is perfect. However, to pass the state review, every description MUST include these 5 sections:

  • Job Title: (e.g., Affiliated Home Care Aide)
  • Summary of Responsibilities: (e.g., Assists clients with Activities of Daily Living including bathing, dressing, and meal prep.)
  • Minimum Qualifications: (e.g., Must pass a Live Scan background check, be cleared on the CDSS Home Care Aide Registry, and complete 5 hours of entry training.)
  • Reporting Structure: (e.g., Reports directly to the Agency Administrator.)
  • Physical Requirements: (e.g., Must be able to safely lift and transfer 25 lbs, and stand for extended periods.)

Roles Defined by California Law

California law (§ 1796.12) spells out specific roles. Your job descriptions should match these definitions:

- Affiliated Home Care Aide (§ 1796.12(a)). A person who is 18 or older, employed by your agency, and listed on the home care aide registry. This is your caregiver role.

- Registered Home Care Aide (§ 1796.12(o)). Must be listed on the CDSS registry. Your aide job description should require registry listing as a qualification.

- What "home care services" means (§ 1796.12(n)). The law lists exactly what aides can do: bathing, dressing, feeding, exercising, personal hygiene, grooming, transferring, toileting, incontinence care, helping with self-administered medication, housekeeping, meal prep, laundry, transportation, shopping, and companionship. Your job descriptions should stick to these services. Aides CANNOT help with medication that needs a licensed health care professional.


How to format your upload

You do not need to upload 3 separate files. We recommend combining all of your job descriptions into a single PDF document with clear page headers for each role.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • 1Vague or overly generic descriptions that don't match your actual day-to-day operations.
  • 2Missing the 'Designee' role entirely. The state explicitly requires you to have a backup administrator, and they need a job description too.
  • 3Forgetting to include the physical requirements (lifting, standing) for the Home Care Aide role.

Tips

  • For the Home Care Aide qualifications, explicitly state that they must complete the 'CDSS-mandated 5 hours of entry-level training' before seeing a client.
  • Keep the formatting clean and professional. These documents demonstrate to the state analyst that you are ready to run a legitimate healthcare-adjacent agency.

What You Need to Do

  1. 1
    Review and customize the Administrator job description above
  2. 2
    Review and customize the Designee job description above
  3. 3
    Review and customize the Home Care Aide job description above
  4. 4
    Verify all 3 descriptions include reporting structure and physical requirements
  5. 5
    Combine into a single PDF and upload to your Document Vault below

Information You Will Need

Have these details ready before you sit down to fill this out:

Administrator Job Description

Review and edit this job description to match your agency. Make sure the details fit your actual operations.

Required
Designee Job Description

The Designee acts when the Administrator is away. This title must match exactly what you put on your HCS 308 form.

Required
Affiliated Home Care Aide (Caregiver) Job Description

This covers the caregivers who go to client homes. The services listed must match what California law allows (HSC 1796.12).

Required

Documents Needed

  • Master Job Descriptions Document (All Roles)
    RequiredPDF · Max 10MB

Want us to handle this for you?

Our licensing team knows this form inside and out. For $999, we fill out every form, check every box, and submit the whole packet to CDSS on your behalf. You just answer a few simple questions.

John Helmy

Researched and reviewed by

John Helmy, Founder of HomeCareAtlas

Building tools and resources to help home care agency owners navigate licensing, compliance, and growth.