How is IHSS different once my child turns 18?

IHSS assigns hours based on how much care your child requires at home compared to a typically developing child of the same age. Typically developing children are expected to do more tasks on their own as they age, so IHSS tends to award hours in more categories as recipients get older and still need adult assistance. For example, recipients may receive extra hours for laundry at age 14 or grocery shopping at age 17. For more examples, see the explanation of functional index rankings in our article In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS): Learn the Essentials of Eligibility.

There are a few categories where an 18-year-old can receive hours that minors are not eligible for, such as domestic services and yard abatement. Some parents wish to reassess their child at age 18 to see if they will receive these additional hours. However, there will likely only be 6-10 more hours in these categories per month, so parents may just want to wait until their next annual assessment rather than scheduling a reassessment at age 18. This hourly task guidelines chart from IHSS shows how many hours an adult recipient can expect to receive per week in various categories based on the level of support they require.

According to Lisa Concoff Kronbeck, Undivided's Public Benefits Specialist, IHSS hours will look mostly the same for a recipient who is 17 years old compared to 18 years old. The rules for who could be a parent provider used to change at 18 years old, but that is no longer the case.

If a child suddenly qualifies for IHSS at age 18 but didn’t at age 17, it’s because they qualified for SSI and thus became eligible for Medi-Cal, which is a requirement for IHSS.