Public commenters urge revival of IHSS advisory committee; board discusses recruitment challenges

Two public commenters on Item 7.2 pressed the Board to revive and support the IHSS Advisory Committee, and a supervisor outlined efforts to recruit members.

Betsy Khan told the Board, “I just would like to encourage whoever is assigned to the IHSS Advisory Committee to please help us put that committee back on its feet and get it going.” Khan’s comment came during public comment on a motion to adopt the Board’s 2026 committee assignments.

After the motion passed, Supervisor Sabatier said there is not currently an active IHSS committee composed of appointed supervisors and that the Board serves as the IHSS decision-making body. He said he has recently spoken with Social Services Director Rachel Dillman Parsons to explore ways to recruit members and restart the advisory committee, and that past efforts had difficulty attracting volunteers.

The board did not take separate formal action on the IHSS advisory question during this item; Sabatier said he will check in again with Social Services staff about recruitment efforts.