IHSS uses a ranking scale to determine the number of hours awarded for each service, such as laundry, feeding, dressing, or transfer. The agency maintains a “functional index ranking” for age-appropriate skills. IHSS will not ask you to rank your child’s skill level based on these numbers, as these are their internal measures.
If you look at the row that corresponds to your child’s age, you can see in what categories IHSS services may be completely unavailable (rank 1), possibly available (ranks 1–5), or available if the service is paramedical in nature (ranks 1 or 6).
Rank 1 would usually mean the client can do a task independently. For minors, many tasks are automatically assigned to rank 1 because the parent would be expected to perform the task for a typically developing child.
Ranks 1–5: For tasks that a typically developing child would be expected to do independently, the recipient’s independence level is ranked based on how much assistance they need to complete the task. Rank 1 is total independence, and rank 5 is total reliance on assistance. Often, each type of task has its own scale for each ranking level.
Rank 6 means that all functions of the task are met by paramedical services. For example, meal preparation for most minors is either a 1 or a 6 — either a parent would be expected to perform the task for a typically developing child, or preparing the child’s meal falls under paramedical services, such as setting up the formula and pump for a tube-fed child, or pureeing or chopping food into small pieces for a child who is a choking risk due to their medical condition.
You can read this annotated assessment criteria document for more details about the ranking levels for different tasks.
For a detailed explanation, see our IHSS video training series for Undivided members.
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