Indiana PSA inspections: what IDOH checks, complaints and penalties

What the statute says. "After receiving a completed application that demonstrates prima facie compliance with the requirements of this chapter and the payment of the fee required by subsection (d), the state department shall issue a license" to operate a PSA (IC 16-27-4-6(e)). The same subsection goes on: "The state department may conduct an onsite inspection in conjunction with the issuance of an initial license or the renewal of a license." "May" makes the inspection IDOH’s choice, not a step every applicant goes through.

What IDOH says. Its 2024 requirements document has a section headed "On/Off Site Investigations" (IDOH-HCBC/PSA-1) and says: "License Investigations: The state may conduct an onsite inspection in the consideration of an initial license application or renewal license application." (IDOH-HCBC/PSA-1). The section does not describe an off-site investigation. IDOH’s application form says it approves the documentation before issuing a license (State Form 53391). That form lists nine policies; IDOH’s 2024 document evaluates four of them at initial licensure and says the others are not evaluated then but must be in place (IDOH-HCBC/PSA-1, FAQs).

Where the sources pull apart. The client rights statement must say "That the state department does not inspect personal service agencies as part of the licensing process but does investigate complaints concerning personal service agencies." (IC 16-27-4-12(12)). By our reading, both can be true: licensing rests on the paper review, and an onsite visit at licensing is an option the statute keeps open rather than part of the process.

Not covered in our sources: how often IDOH inspects an applicant before licensing, what it looks at if it does, or whether an applicant with no clients yet is ever visited. Our suggestion: have every policy and form in place and in use from your first client, as if a visit could come.

IDOH’s PSA program page says: "IDOH is available to receive complaints against nursing homes, hospitals, home health agencies, hospice agencies, personal service agencies, and intermediate care facilities for persons with intellectual disabilities (ICF-IID; also called group homes). IDOH investigates all eligible complaints." (IDOH PSA program page). Its 2024 document adds: "Complaint Investigations: The state may conduct an inspection for a complaint alleging noncompliance with the requirements of a PSA." (IDOH-HCBC/PSA-1).

The steps below come from IDOH’s general Report a Complaint page. That page names home health and hospice agencies in its lists but does not name personal service agencies (IDOH, Report a Complaint), so by our reading it describes IDOH’s complaint process in general, and we assume it applies to PSAs too. IDOH’s PSA program page links to it as "This report link is to a page that provides information about the complaint process and how to report a complaint." (IDOH PSA program page).

The complainant’s name. "Under state law, IDOH cannot identify or release the name of the person who submitted the complaint." (IDOH, Report a Complaint) Our suggestion: do not try to find out who complained, and never treat a client differently for complaining. The rights statement must tell clients they may file grievances and are "is not subject to discrimination or reprisal for filing a grievance" (IC 16-27-4-12(3)).

A procedural rule we could not find. The statute says "The state department shall adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 to govern the procedure for the following: (1) Issuing, renewing, denying, or revoking a personal services agency license. (2) Investigating a complaint against a personal services agency that alleges a violation of this chapter. (3) Collecting fees required under this chapter." (IC 16-27-4-20(a)). IDOH’s 2024 document lists no PSA rule among its legal authorities, only IC 16-27-4 and the home health TB rule (IDOH-HCBC/PSA-1), so we cannot point you to a written procedure for PSA complaint investigations.

Your own complaints duty is separate. You investigate complaints made to you by a client, their family or representative, and document each complaint and its resolution (IC 16-27-4-13). IDOH’s incident reporting system is for comprehensive and residential care facilities and does not list PSAs, so by our reading a PSA has no IDOH incident-report duty (IDOH, Facility-Reported Incidents), though the abuse reporting laws still apply. Abuse reporting on the Indiana guide →

Getting in the way of an investigation. The home health chapter makes it a Class C misdemeanor for a person who intentionally "prevents, interferes with, or attempts to impede the work of an employee of the state department in the investigation and enforcement of any provision of this article or rule adopted under this article" (IC 16-27-1-12(c)(1)). Article 27 also contains the PSA chapter, so by our reading this may reach a PSA investigation; IDOH has not said so in our sources. The same section lets the commissioner seek an order of compliance and a civil penalty of up to $25,000 for the violations it describes (IC 16-27-1-12(d)). Against this reading, IC 16-27-4-6(j) says "The requirements under IC 16-27-1 do not apply to a home health agency's personal services agency." (IC 16-27-4-6(j)). We treat both as open questions; the PSA chapter’s own civil penalty is up to $1,000.

Criminal history checks carry their own penalties: breaking the 3-day or 21-day check rules or the hiring bar is a Class A infraction, and knowingly or intentionally operating a PSA while disqualified is a Class A misdemeanor (IC 16-27-2-7; -3(b)).