I once had a mom make threats to put hot sauce in her kids mouth and he quickly retreated which made it clear to me she had done it before and it was extremely aversive. My understanding under CA law, parents are allowed to “punish” their child as long as it doesn’t cause significant harm, this includes spanking. While the optics of forcing a kid to eat a hot Cheeto is not great, we can’t do much about it other than give mom alternative consequent strategies. For example, restrict access to reinforcers until the client complies.

Furthermore, I would also recommend reading Punishment on Trial by Dr. Cipani. Punishment is such a wildly misconstrued concept that our field has shunned almost completely (and possibly unfairly because of the “negative” association we typically have with the word) even though when done correctly it can be effective. If your company is willing to implement an effective and non harmful “punishment” i think it can be helpful particularly with older clients.