This section reports publicly available, descriptive data about Assisted Living Facilities (ALF) in California as well as the number of citations a facility received during the last 5 years. There are no publicly reported quality of care measures available for ALFs. The California Department of Social Services (DSS) calls these “Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFE)” and is responsible for licensing and inspecting these facilities.

ALFs provide both housing and non-medical* personal care including assistance with activities of daily living to adults age 60 and older. They range in size from six bed facilities in residential housing (sometimes called board and care homes) to larger facilities housing 100 or more people. (*for residents who are Medi-Cal beneficiaries in the Assisted Living Waiver Program, skilled nursing care must be provided as needed.)  For information about facilities that serve adults under age 60 (called Adult Residential Care Facilities), please use this link.

For more information about the types of residential and day care options, please visit our website here.

Date first licensed (Data Source: DSS Community Care Licensing Division: through 10/22/2023)

This shows the date the facility received its license to start providing care. This information is provided to show how long a facility has been in business in California.

Resident capacity (Data Source: DSS Community Care Licensing Division: through 10/22/2023)

Resident capacity means the number of beds this facility is licensed to operate by the Department of Social Services; it does not reflect the number of residents currently in the facility.

Total citations issued (Data Source: DSS Community Care Licensing Division: 10/23/2018 through 10/22/2023)

This number represents the total number of citations issued by the Department of Social Services in the most recent 5 years for violations that resulted in immediate (Type A) or potential (Type B) health, safety, or personal rights impact. Citations can be issued for any violation of California regulations and range from minor infractions, such as not having required postings in public areas, to more serious events, such as improper storage of dangerous chemicals/cleaners or resident harm by another resident or staff member. Citations for these violations will always be issued even if the violation is corrected immediately during inspection. Facilities may also appeal violations if they feel they were issued incorrectly.  Appeals are not reported on the DSS website.  Using the facility link above, please check the details of the citations (date and severity) when comparing facilities.

Citations per bed day (Data Source: DSS Community Care Licensing Division: 10/23/2018 through 10/22/2023)

In comparison to the “total citations issued”, this number adjusts the citations a facility received during the most recent 5 years according to number of residents in the facility and how long the facility has been licensed (Total A and B citations per 1,000 licensed bed days). This adjustment more accurately reflects the frequency of violations among facilities of different sizes. Fewer citations per bed-day are better.