Is this a medical recommendation?

No. Clinicians decide treatment. Counties decide IHSS. Communities and facilities decide admissions. This page is an educational map.

What if we need more than one path?

That is common. Families mix IHSS authorized tasks with private hours, or plan a short skilled stay and a return home. Keep calendars and payers separate.

Where are the dollar figures?

On the cost of care hub and the live calculator. They use CareScout 2025 California statewide medians. IHSS wages stay on the CDSS county wage-rate page.

Can you file IHSS for us?

No. California Home Help helps organize paperwork. The county office on the CDSS list takes SOC 295.

ToolsCare path

Care path

Which California care path fits this parent?

Updated September 16, 2026. Reviewed September 16, 2026 against public CDSS, DHCS, Medicare.gov, VA, and CareScout 2025 California tables. County wages, hours, and wait times still change. Official .gov pages decide.

Answer a few questions about where the parent can live and what kind of help they need. You will get an educational next path, not a diagnosis, not an hours award, and not an admission. IHSS is the public in-home program. Licensed agencies and communities are private-pay settings unless another payer applies.

Short answer

If the parent can live in their own home, start with Medi-Cal and IHSS, and add a licensed Home Care Organization only for hours the county does not authorize. Assisted living and memory care are monthly community fees. A nursing facility is a licensed health facility. Medicare does not pay for ongoing custodial care.

1. Where are you considering they will live?

They can stay in their own house or apartmentOwn home for IHSS means an abode of their choosing. A hospital, nursing facility, or licensed community care facility is not that home.We hope they can stay home, but we are not sure it is safeStart with the in-home path and a typical-day list. Safety questions still belong with clinicians and the county, not with this page.We are touring assisted living or memory careThose are licensed residential settings. IHSS usually does not follow someone in as if it were own home.A hospital or doctor is talking about a skilled nursing facilityAsk what is skilled and what is custodial. Medicare, Medi-Cal, and private pay are different conversations.

2. What kind of help is true enough to discuss?

Optional. Leave boxes unchecked if you are still gathering notes.

Needs help with bathing, dressing, meals, or transfersMemory or thinking changes that affect safety when aloneSomeone needs to be nearby overnight or much of the dayNursing-level or medically complex needs a house may not hold

3. Educational next paths

Choose a setting to see paths. Highlighting is educational. If the parent can live in their own home, start with Medi-Cal and IHSS, and add a licensed Home Care Organization only for hours the county does not authorize. Assisted living and memory care are monthly community fees. A nursing facility is a licensed health facility. Medicare does not pay for ongoing custodial care.

Official California sources

Official program pages: CDSS: In-Home Supportive Services, CDSS: IHSS for children, County IHSS offices, CDSS: IHSS providers, CDSS: county IHSS wage rates, CDSS: provider orientation, CDSS: Electronic Visit Verification, CDSS: Electronic Services Portal, DHCS: Medi-Cal, Apply for Medi-Cal, BenefitsCal, CDSS: hearing requests, CDSS: forms catalog, CDSS: IHSS overtime and workweek, DDS: regional centers.

Which California care path fits this parent?

Short answer

3. Educational next paths

Official California sources

Questions people ask

See if IHSS may apply