Plain-English guides for California providers

For families supporting someone with autism, sensory sensitivities, PTSD, or safety needs, the Fourth of July can be one of the hardest days of the year. A free guide with more than 20 printable checklists, plans, and coloring pages to help you plan a calmer, safer day.

As of June 1, 2026, 52 California counties can deny a CalFresh application before the 30-day mark if requested documents are not provided within 10 days. Here is what applicants need to know, including the reopen rule that can save a full month of benefits.

Many California IHSS families assume they earn too much to qualify for CalFresh, but in reality about 5.5 million Californians receive CalFresh benefits each month. A plain-English guide to who qualifies, how IHSS income is treated for CalFresh, how to apply, and what to do if your application is denied.

Protective Supervision can raise an IHSS recipient's monthly hour cap from 195 to 283, but it is one of the most denied services in the program. A plain-English guide to what it actually is, who qualifies, the SOC 821, and why your documentation is everything.

Most California IHSS providers leave 40 paid hours unused every year because they think claiming will cost them something. It will not. A plain-English guide on how to qualify, when you can use it, and why claiming it does not reduce your pay or your recipient's hours.

Federal officials have spent the spring calling in-home care "rife with fraud." Here is what is actually being claimed about IHSS, what is and is not true about it, and what an honest provider can do to plan and document care in a way that holds up.

Most IHSS providers in California don't actually know how their overtime is calculated. The rules are buried in CDSS bulletins and scattered across county training documents. Here it is in plain English, with a real Riverside County example.