IHSS max hours are 283 a month for one person. That limit is for someone the county rates as severely impaired, and everyone else tops out at 195. A provider caring for two or more people can work up to 66 hours a week. Working for just one person, they can work up to that person's weekly limit.
Most people get less than the top. The state's average in 2025-26 was about 125 hours a month.
How does the county decide your IHSS hours?
A county social worker visits your home and scores each task on a scale of 1 to 5. A 1 means the person does it alone, so that task gets no hours. A 5 means they can't do it at all, even with help.
The state sets a normal range of time for each task at each score. Help with dressing, for example, runs about 1 to 2 hours a week. The worker can go above or below the range when a person's needs call for it, and has to write down why.
Severely impaired means needing at least 20 hours a week of hands-on care. That covers bathing, dressing, the toilet, eating, meal prep, and medical tasks, and it's what unlocks the 283 limit.
The county checks again about once a year. You can ask for a new assessment any time your child's needs change. Children are always assessed in person, never by video.
How many IHSS hours can a child get?
The same 195 or 283, but IHSS only counts help a child needs beyond what kids that age need. The state uses an age chart for this. It's a guide, and the social worker still looks at your child as a person.
| Help with | Usually no hours through age | Looked at one by one from age |
|---|---|---|
| The toilet | 3 | 4 |
| Dressing | 4 | 5 |
| Bathing, teeth, and grooming | 7 | 8 |
| Eating | 7 | 8 |
For a child under 18, IHSS never pays for housework or for teaching, because the rules treat those as a parent's job. Chores like laundry and shopping don't usually count until the mid-teens.
The biggest change for many autistic kids is protective supervision, IHSS pay for watching a child who can't judge danger. A child who gets it usually reaches the limit: 195 or 283 a month. Our guide to IHSS protective supervision covers who qualifies.
The biggest misconception we hear is that a Regional Center service at home will lower a child's IHSS hours. It won't. The state told counties to leave in-home Regional Center services out when they set IHSS hours. Adding adaptive skills training doesn't lower respite either.
What counts as IHSS paramedical services?
Paramedical services are medical tasks a person can't do for themselves, done at home on a doctor's order. The state's examples:
- Giving medicine or shots.
- Tube feeding.
- Catheter and ostomy care.
- Suctioning.
- Wound care, and anything that needs sterile steps.
- Blood or urine tests.
- Enemas, suppositories, and other bowel care.
The doctor fills out the SOC 321 form and says how long each task takes. That number sets the hours, not the social worker's range. Paramedical time counts toward the 20 hours that make someone severely impaired, and a parent can be paid for it.
How many hours can an IHSS provider work?
The provider's limits are weekly. The IHSS workweek runs from Sunday at midnight to Saturday night.
- Working for one person, a provider can work up to that person's monthly hours divided by 4. At 283 hours, that's 70 hours and 45 minutes a week. At 195, it's 48 hours and 45 minutes.
- Working for two or more people, the limit is 66 hours a week in total.
- Hours over 40 in a week are paid at time and a half. California wrote that into state law in September 2025.
- Travel time between two clients is paid, up to 7 hours a week.
A week can run long if another week that month runs short, as long as the extra hours don't add overtime. For more than that, ask the county first.
Breaking the limits brings a warning first. A third time means 90 days without IHSS work, and a fourth means a full year.
One exception helps some autism families. A live-in provider caring for two or more people with complex medical or behavioral needs can apply. They ask the county for Exemption 2, which allows up to 360 hours a month. The state names autism as an example. It fits a parent caring for two children on IHSS at home.
Is there a daily limit on IHSS hours?
No. The limits are monthly for the person and weekly for the provider. At 283 hours, that averages about nine hours a day. At 195, it's about six and a half.
Even at the top, the rest of each day's care still falls to the family.
Some of those unpaid hours can go to teaching. We send a caring professional with a master's degree and 9.3 years of experience on average. They're matched to your child because they've already helped people learn the same skills. It's paid by your Regional Center, so your family pays $0, and it doesn't touch your IHSS hours. See if adaptive skills training fits your child.
IHSS vs WPCS: what's the difference?
WPCS (Waiver Personal Care Services) adds hours on top of IHSS for people with very high medical needs. It's part of a separate state program, the HCBA waiver, run by the Department of Health Care Services. IHSS has to come first.
| IHSS | WPCS | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | Your county | A waiver agency for your ZIP code |
| Who qualifies | People on Medi-Cal with a disability who need help to stay safely at home | People already on IHSS who need the level of care of a nursing home or hospital |
| Hour limit | 195 or 283 a month | No set number, up to 24 hours a day from all sources together |
| Waitlist | None | Yes, since July 2023, with people under 21 moved up the list |
| Provider limits | Weekly limits above | The same limits, counted together with IHSS, and 12 hours a day |
One catch matters for Regional Center families. You can't be in the HCBA waiver and the Regional Center's own Medi-Cal waiver at the same time. Ask your service coordinator what would change before you apply.
Questions parents actually ask
How many IHSS hours does an autistic child get?
It depends on the help your child needs beyond what kids that age need. A child with protective supervision usually reaches 195 or 283 a month. Without it, the hours add up task by task.
What's the most IHSS hours per week?
For one person, their monthly hours divided by 4, which is 70 hours and 45 minutes at 283. A provider working for two or more people can work 66 hours a week in total.
Can IHSS give more than 283 hours a month?
No. 283 is the most IHSS gives one person. Someone who needs more may qualify for WPCS through the HCBA waiver.
Can two parents split the IHSS hours?
Yes. Both parents can enroll as providers and divide your child's hours. Here's how to become your child's IHSS provider.
Will adaptive skills training eat into our IHSS hours or respite?
No. It counts against neither one. The state wrote to every county: give IHSS hours as though the Regional Center did nothing. Read it here.
How do we ask for more IHSS hours?
Ask the county in writing for a new assessment, and say what changed. If the notice that comes back is wrong, you have 90 days to ask for a state hearing.
