In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) can be a crucial program for families raising kids with disabilities, providing the specialized child care our kids need right at home. It's a lifeline for many families across California, but it can also be overwhelming and confusing for parents to navigate, like so many of these systems in which we operate. On a daily basis, Undivided Navigators receive questions about IHSS eligibility, how hours are calculated, whether young kids can qualify, how to demonstrate the need for more services, and more.
We want every eligible family to understand what IHSS can offer, how they can access these vital supports, and what to do when they disagree, so we sat down with Undivided Public Benefits Specialist Lisa Concoff Kronbeck to get answers to some common questions — and misconceptions — about IHSS.
At the core of In-Home Supportive Services is making sure our kids with significant care needs can grow up in their own communities. As Kronbeck explains, IHSS is “a Medi-Cal service designed to help elderly people and people with disabilities to stay safely in their homes by providing funding for home care for tasks that [they cannot] do on their own. Their inability to do that is potentially jeopardizing their risk of remaining at home instead of being institutionalized.”
She emphasizes that IHSS is not “just being paid to stay home and take care of your kids. What's happening is some of our children with disabilities are eligible under the IHSS regulations to qualify for home caregiving. And IHSS allows parents to be paid as that care provider in certain circumstances.” To learn more about becoming a parent provider, check out this article about IHSS providers.
Some families think their children don’t qualify for IHSS because they’re told over the phone, “Your child is too young,” or “Call back when your child is a certain age.” Kronbeck reminds us that IHSS hours are “tied to what kind of care a parent would be expected to provide to a typically developing child of the same age. So to the extent that your child has extraordinary care needs that exceed that, they can't deny based just on age.”
If you’re applying for IHSS for the first time and you’re told that your child is too young, Kronbeck recommends this response: “I understand. I would like to apply anyway. If my child is denied, they can send me a written notice of action.” The reason is because if you appeal the denial and your child is later found eligible, IHSS will pay retroactive benefits to the date you first applied, potentially up to 90 days prior to the application date. (We previously hosted a full event about applying for IHSS with a child under age 5, so be sure to check it out if this is your situation!)
IHSS will require you to submit a log of your child’s dangerous behaviors to assess the need for protective supervision. It’s important to document not just times when your child actually injured themselves but also times when you had to intervene to prevent injury. Kronbeck says, “Keep track of dangerous behavior, whether there's actual injury or not. Because if you have a child who needs protective supervision, you know that you are intervening to keep them safe multiple times per day, sometimes multiple times per hour. IHSS needs to be aware of how much supervision they require in order to not get injured. Make sure that your child's doctor is aware of these behaviors and the energy that you put into keeping your child safe because the doctor is the one who needs to fill out the forms. You want them filled out by somebody who knows your child and knows their history, their limitations, and their cognitive impairments.”
Undivided members have access to a step-by-step guide to applying for protective supervision in our app, including a dangerous behavior log template, so ask your Navigator if you need this!
Kronbeck notes that young children may qualify for protective supervision if caregivers have to intervene to prevent them from removing life-saving equipment, such as a G tube or trach, because they don’t understand the consequences of their actions. Even toddlers who are not ambulatory might pull out their equipment and risk injury. Kronbeck reiterates that no matter how old your child is, IHSS will be comparing their care needs with a typically developing child of the same age, so “if your child needs more close supervision, you better be prepared to document it and substantiate that claim.”
However, not all medical issues qualify for extra hours. Hear Kronbeck’s explanation in this clip:
The Career Pathways program has been extended until September 2024, so parent providers can continue to take paid training classes and claim the incentives. See our full article for more information about this program, the new deadlines, and the many ways Undivided can help parents find classes, stay organized, and get paid for their time!
Thank you to Lisa Concoff Kronbeck for answering so many of our questions! To see the full recording and transcript of this event, check out IHSS under age 18.
If you have further questions about IHSS, your Undivided Navigator can provide support and even set up a free consultation call with our Public Benefits Specialist for 1:1 help. (Get started here if you don’t have a Navigator yet!)
Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to learn more about upcoming free events, and join our private Facebook group to get your questions answered by fellow parents in our supportive community!
