Could my child be denied IHSS protective supervision because of aggressive behavior?

Two of the things that IHSS protected supervision cannot be awarded for are aggression and self-harm. When you're talking about your child's behavior, always tell the truth, but think about the words that you're using and whether they actually apply to your child. For example: you're getting letters home from school saying, "The child is engaging in aggressive behaviors," but what's actually happening is the child is getting overstimulated and they're lashing out, and there's a potential that they might accidentally hit somebody, but they're not intending to hit somebody. They're just lashing out because they're overstimulated or having a meltdown. Ask yourself: is that aggression, or is that the risk of harm because they don't understand the consequences of their actions?

In order to get IHSS protective supervision, the behavior has to be non-self-directing. The question is whether the person is able to evaluate the risk of harm before acting. If a child hits their little brother because the little brother took a toy and the kid is mad and they hit them, that's an act of aggression. If a child is lashing out or kicking or flailing because they don't understand that they could hurt somebody, that is not an act of aggression. So think about your language.

The same is true of self-harm. If the child's goal is to hurt themselves, that's intentional self-harm. If the if the child's goal is something completely different, but they're accidentally hurting themselves because they don't understand that what they're doing could hurt them, then that is not intentional self-harm. This is an important distinction, so make sure that the words that you're using actually describe your child's behavior.