Reference

Senior Care Glossary for California Families

Care homes, hospitals and state agencies use words most families have never needed before. This glossary explains them in plain language and points to the guide that covers each one in full.

Activities of daily living: Also called: ADLs, Daily activities; The basic tasks of everyday self care: bathing, dressing, transferring, eating, toileting and continence. Care homes and long-term care insurers both look at how much help a person needs with these tasks when they assess care needs.; Read the guide
Administrator: Also called: RCFE administrator; The person in charge of running a licensed care home. In California every residential care facility for the elderly must have a certified administrator, who is also responsible for scheduling enough staff to give residents the care they need.; Read the guide
Admission agreement: Also called: Residency agreement, Contract; The written contract between a resident and a care home. In California it includes every document a resident or representative must sign to move in, and it must describe the services, the fees, the refund policy and the lawful grounds for eviction.; Read the guide
Adult day program: Also called: Adult day care, Adult day health care; A licensed daytime program that offers supervision, personal care, activities and meals for less than 24 hours a day. Adult day health care adds nursing, therapy and social services. The person returns home afterward.; Read the guide
Adult Protective Services: Also called: APS; A county agency that takes reports, 24 hours a day, when an older adult living at home may be abused, neglected, financially exploited or unable to meet basic needs.; Read the guide
Adult residential facility: Also called: ARF; A licensed non-medical home that provides 24-hour care and supervision, mainly for adults ages 18 to 59 who may have a mental, physical or developmental disability. It is a separate license from the one assisted living homes hold.; Read the guide
Advance directive: Also called: Advance health care directive; A legal document that names a person to make health care decisions and records wishes for medical treatment. It takes effect only if the person cannot communicate their own wishes.; Read the guide
Agent under a power of attorney: Also called: Agent, Health care agent; The person someone names in a power of attorney or advance directive to make financial or health care decisions on their behalf. In California a health care agent may not make a decision over the objection of the person who named them.; Read the guide
Appropriately skilled professional: California's term for a person trained and licensed to perform a medical procedure, such as a registered nurse, licensed vocational nurse or therapist. In a care home, skilled tasks such as injections belong to this person or to the resident, not to caregivers.; Read the guide
Area Agency on Aging: Also called: AAA; A local agency that connects older adults, adults with disabilities and family caregivers to services in their county, including caregiver support programs and legal help.; Read the guide
Asset limit: Also called: Resource limit; The most a person may hold in countable assets and still qualify for a benefit program such as Medi-Cal. In 2026 California began counting assets again for Medi-Cal applicants who are 65 or older, have a disability or need long-term care.; Read the guide
Assisted living: Also called: Assisted living community, Assisted living facility; Housing with meals, help with daily activities, help with medications and supervision, without 24-hour nursing. California has no separate assisted living license. These homes are licensed as residential care facilities for the elderly, and the name usually means a larger building with apartments.; Read the guide
Assisted Living Waiver: Also called: ALW, Medi-Cal Assisted Living Waiver; A Medi-Cal program that pays for care services in participating licensed homes for people who would otherwise need a nursing facility. It operates only in certain counties, does not pay room and board, and has a waitlist.; Read the guide
Awake night staff: Also called: Night supervision; Caregivers who are on duty and awake overnight, as opposed to a qualified person who is on call on the premises. California's night staffing rules depend on the size of the home and, in small homes, on what residents with dementia need.; Read the guide
Base rate: Also called: Base rent, Basic rate; The monthly charge for the room and the services every resident receives, such as meals, housekeeping and activities. Charges for personal care are often added on top of it.; Read the guide
Bedridden: In California licensing, a person who needs help to turn and reposition in bed, or who cannot get in and out of bed without help. It does not mean spending most of the day in bed. A home needs the right fire clearance to care for a bedridden resident.; Read the guide
Behavioral expression: The term California's care home regulations use for behavior that may harm the resident or others, such as unsafe wandering, expressions of frustration or disorientation. The rules recognize that it may come from a cause such as pain, fear, fatigue or illness.; Read the guide
Benefit trigger: The condition a long-term care insurance policy sets before it will pay. A common trigger is needing help with two of six activities of daily living, or having a cognitive impairment.; Read the guide
Board and care home: Also called: Board and care, Boarding home, Residential care home; A small licensed care home in a house on a residential street, often with six beds. In California it holds the same license as a large assisted living community: residential care facility for the elderly.; Read the guide
CalAIM: The program through which California is changing how Medi-Cal works. One part, Community Supports, lets Medi-Cal managed care plans offer services such as help moving from a nursing facility into assisted living.; Read the guide
Capacity: Also called: Decision-making capacity; The legal ability to make a decision and be responsible for it. California law presumes every adult has it. Capacity is a legal idea, not a diagnosis, and a person with a mental or physical disorder may still be able to make decisions.; Read the guide
Care Coordination Agency: Also called: CCA; An organization through which a person applies for the Medi-Cal Assisted Living Waiver. The application goes through one of these agencies, not through a care home.; Read the guide
Care plan: Also called: Record of care, Service plan; A written record of the care a resident will receive and the resident's preferences. In California the home prepares it in a meeting with the resident and the resident's representative, and reviews it at least once a year or after a significant change.; Read the guide
Caregiver: Also called: Direct care staff, Family caregiver; A staff member who gives hands-on, non-medical help with tasks such as bathing, dressing and taking medications. In a California care home, caregivers must complete required training. The word also describes a relative who provides unpaid care at home.; Read the guide
Caregiver Resource Center: One of a statewide network of California centers that support family caregivers with care planning, respite help, and legal and financial consultation.; Read the guide
Centrally stored medication: Medication that a care home keeps for a resident locked up, in its original container, and logged. The medical assessment done before move-in is supposed to say whether a resident's medications should be stored this way.; Read the guide
Citation: A written notice from California's licensing agency that a care home violated a licensing rule. Citations appear on the home's public record and are sorted into Type A and Type B by how serious the risk is.; Read the guide
Community Care Licensing Division: Also called: CCLD, Community Care Licensing, Licensing; The part of the California Department of Social Services that licenses and inspects assisted living communities and board and care homes, investigates complaints and issues citations. It keeps a public search of each home's record.; Read the guide
Community fee: Also called: Pre-admission fee, Preadmission fee, Move-in fee; A one-time charge some homes collect before or at move-in. California law treats it as a pre-admission fee whatever it is called, allows only one per admission, and sets rules for explaining and refunding it.; Read the guide
Community spouse: Also called: Spouse at home, Well spouse; In Medi-Cal's rules for couples, the spouse who is not receiving Medi-Cal long-term care. Often called the spouse at home, this person is allowed to keep additional income and assets.; Read the guide
Community Supports: Also called: CalAIM Community Supports; Services that Medi-Cal managed care plans may offer under CalAIM to help members with health-related needs and avoid higher levels of care. Each plan chooses which to offer. One helps a member move from a nursing facility to assisted living.; Read the guide
Complaint: Also called: Licensing complaint; A report to the state licensing agency that something is wrong at a licensed care home. Anyone may file one, the agency investigates, and the finding is recorded as substantiated, unsubstantiated or unfounded.; Read the guide
Conservator: Also called: Conservatorship; A person a court appoints to make decisions for an adult who cannot manage alone. A conservator of the person handles personal needs such as health and shelter, and a conservator of the estate handles finances. The court oversees the arrangement.; Read the guide
Continuing care retirement community: Also called: CCRC, Continuing care community; A community that offers independent living, assisted living and usually skilled nursing under one long-term contract, often for life. Residents typically pay a large entrance fee plus monthly fees, and the provider needs a state certificate of authority.; Read the guide
Countable income: The part of a person's income that Medi-Cal counts after certain subtractions, such as health insurance premiums. It is lower than gross income, and it is the figure used to decide whether a share of cost applies.; Read the guide
Deficiency: Also called: Violation; A failure to meet a licensing rule that the state finds at a care home. The licensing agency must notify the home in writing of each deficiency, and the list of deficiencies is open to the public.; Read the guide
Delayed egress: Also called: Delayed-egress door; An exit door with a push bar that sounds an alarm when pushed and opens only after a set delay, which gives staff time to come. A California care home needs fire clearance approval to use one.; Read the guide
Dementia: Also called: Major neurocognitive disorder; A general term for major neurocognitive disorder, which includes Alzheimer's disease and related conditions such as vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia and frontotemporal dementia. Under California's care home rules, mild cognitive impairment is not considered dementia.; Read the guide
Discharge planner: Also called: Case manager, Hospital social worker; The hospital or nursing facility staff member, often a case manager or social worker, who plans where a patient goes next and what care will be needed there. The care home, not the hospital, decides whether it can accept the patient.; Read the guide
DNR: Also called: Do-not-resuscitate form, Prehospital DNR; Short for do not resuscitate. A DNR form is a signed request to forgo resuscitation if the heart or breathing stops. A resident of a California care home may keep one in their file at the home.; Read the guide
Elimination period: Also called: Waiting period, Deductible period; The time a person must wait after qualifying for long-term care insurance benefits before the company starts paying. During it the family pays the full cost of care. Its length was chosen when the policy was bought.; Read the guide
Elopement: In California's care home regulations, when a resident who is at risk of harm because of a cognitive condition leaves the home unsupervised. The home must report each one to the resident's representative and to the licensing agency.; Read the guide
Estate recovery: Also called: Medi-Cal estate recovery; The state's claim, after a Medi-Cal member dies, for repayment of certain long-term care costs from the person's estate. California limits what it can claim and from which property, and makes no claim when a spouse survives.; Read the guide
Eviction notice: Also called: Notice to quit; A written notice from a care home that a resident must move out. In California a home may evict only for reasons listed in state regulation, and the notice must give specific facts and explain the right to contest it.; Read the guide
Exception: Also called: Exception request; Written permission from the California Department of Social Services for a home to care for a resident whose health condition the rules would otherwise restrict or prohibit. The home applies, not the family, and the department decides.; Read the guide
Financial elder abuse: Also called: Financial exploitation; Taking or keeping an older adult's money or property wrongfully, by fraud or by undue influence. A move to care can be a risky time, because new people gain access to accounts and paperwork.; Read the guide
Fire clearance: Approval from the local fire department or the State Fire Marshal that every licensed care home must hold. A home needs a specific clearance, and approved rooms, before it may care for residents who are nonambulatory or bedridden.; Read the guide
Guarantor: Also called: Co-signer; A person who signs a care home contract promising to pay the bill from their own money. This is a separate promise from signing only as the resident's representative, which does not by itself make a person liable for the charges.; Read the guide
HICAP: Also called: Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program; California's free Medicare counseling program. Its counselors give confidential one-on-one help with Medicare, long-term care insurance and other health insurance questions.; Read the guide
Home care: Also called: In-home care, Home care aide; Non-medical help at home with personal care and daily chores, paid by the hour. California licenses home care organizations and keeps a registry of background-checked home care aides.; Read the guide
Home health: Also called: Home health care, Home health agency; Skilled medical services, such as nursing or physical therapy, ordered by a doctor and provided where a person lives by a licensed agency. Home health nurses and therapists may also visit a resident of a care home.; Read the guide
Hospice: Also called: Hospice care; Care for a person who is terminally ill that focuses on comfort and not on cure. Hospice is a service that comes to where a person lives, not a building, and Medicare's hospice benefit does not pay a care home's room and board.; Read the guide
Hospice waiver: Also called: Hospice care waiver; State approval that lets a California care home keep a resident who becomes terminally ill, or accept a new resident who is already on hospice. The waiver belongs to the home, not to the resident.; Read the guide
House rules: A care home's written rules for daily life, on matters such as visiting, smoking and alcohol. When a resident must sign them in order to move in, they are part of the admission agreement.; Read the guide
IHSS: Also called: In-Home Supportive Services; In-Home Supportive Services, a Medi-Cal program that pays a caregiver for a set number of hours so a person can stay safely at home. It pays for care in a person's own home and cannot be used inside an assisted living home.; Read the guide
Incidental medical services: Limited medical care that a resident of a non-medical care home receives from an outside licensed provider. In California a licensed home health agency may provide these services under a written agreement with the home.; Read the guide
Incontinence care: Help for a person who cannot fully control the bladder or bowel. A California care home may provide it when the condition can be managed with scheduled toileting or incontinence products, and it must keep residents clean and dry and protect their privacy.; Read the guide
Independent living: Also called: Senior apartments, Retirement community; Housing for older adults who manage their own daily life, often with meals, housekeeping and activities. It provides no care or supervision, and needs no care license when it offers only housing, housekeeping and meals.; Read the guide
Inspection report: Also called: Facility Evaluation Report; The written report a state licensing analyst completes after visiting a care home. California calls it a Facility Evaluation Report. Reports are public, and recent ones can be read on the state's facility search.; Read the guide
Institutionalized spouse: In Medi-Cal's rules for couples, the spouse who needs long-term care. The term is used even when that person is getting services at home and not in a facility.; Read the guide
Level of care: Also called: Care level; A home's measure of how much help a resident needs, based on its assessment. Each home defines its own levels, because California does not set them. A higher level usually means a higher monthly charge.; Read the guide
Level-of-care fee: Also called: Care fee, Care level charge; The monthly charge for personal care, added to the base rate and set by the home's assessment of the resident. It can change when the resident's needs change, and the home must then give written, itemized notice.; Read the guide
License: Also called: Facility license, Facility number; State permission to operate a care home. In California an assisted living community or board and care home must hold a license as a residential care facility for the elderly and post it where the public can see it.; Read the guide
Licensed capacity: Also called: Capacity; The number of residents a care home is licensed to serve. It appears on the home's public licensing record, and some staffing rules change with the size of the home.; Read the guide
Life settlement: The sale of a life insurance policy to a third party for a cash payment while the insured person is alive. It reduces or ends what heirs receive. People who broker or buy life settlements in California must be licensed.; Read the guide
Long-term care insurance: Also called: LTC insurance; Private insurance that helps pay for care when a person needs help with daily activities or has a cognitive impairment. Whether a policy pays in assisted living depends on its terms, including its benefit trigger and elimination period.; Read the guide
Long-Term Care Ombudsman: Also called: Ombudsman; A free, confidential advocate for residents of long-term care facilities, including assisted living and nursing homes. The program is separate from the licensing agency, and its representatives follow the resident's wishes when they help resolve a problem.; Read the guide
Look-back period: Also called: Look-back; The stretch of time before a nursing home admission that Medi-Cal reviews for assets given away or sold for less than they are worth. Such transfers can delay Medi-Cal payment for nursing facility care.; Read the guide
Medi-Cal: Also called: Medicaid; California's Medicaid program, for people with limited income and assets. It does not pay an assisted living home directly, but some Medi-Cal programs pay for care services there for people who qualify.; Read the guide
Medical assessment: Also called: Physician's report; A health report signed by a licensed medical professional that a California care home must have before admitting a resident. It covers diagnoses, medications, physical limits and a tuberculosis exam, and must have been made within the last year.; Read the guide
Medicare: The federal health insurance program for people 65 or older and some younger people with a disability. It covers medical care such as hospital stays, doctor visits, some home health care and hospice. It does not pay for long-term care, including assisted living.; Read the guide
Medication assistance: Also called: Assistance with self-administered medications, Medication management; Help a caregiver gives so a resident can take their own medications. In California care homes, unlicensed staff are not authorized to administer medications, so injections are given by the resident or by a licensed professional.; Read the guide
Memory care: Also called: Dementia care; Care in a home or unit set up for people living with dementia. In California it is a marketing term, not a separate license. Memory care is provided in a residential care facility for the elderly that follows the state's dementia care rules.; Read the guide
Non-medical out-of-home care rate: Also called: NMOHC, Board and care rate; A higher SSI/SSP payment rate for a person who lives in a licensed care home. It determines what a home may charge an SSI/SSP recipient for basic services and how much the resident keeps for personal needs.; Read the guide
Nonambulatory: In California law, a person who cannot leave a building without help in an emergency. Relying on a wheelchair, walker or crutches counts, and so can being unable to respond to a fire alarm. A home needs a fire clearance for nonambulatory residents.; Read the guide
Nursing facility level of care: Also called: Nursing home level of care; A finding that a person's needs are great enough to qualify for care in a nursing facility. Programs such as the Assisted Living Waiver and PACE require it, even though the person receives care somewhere else.; Read the guide
PACE: Also called: Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly; A Medicare and Medi-Cal program that provides and coordinates medical care, a day center, in-home help and transportation for people 55 and older who need a nursing home level of care but can live safely in the community.; Read the guide
Palliative care: Care meant to improve quality of life for a person with a serious or life-threatening illness. Unlike hospice, it can be given alongside treatment.; Read the guide
Partnership policy: Also called: California Partnership for Long-Term Care; A state-approved long-term care insurance policy with one extra feature: each dollar it pays in benefits lets the policyholder keep a dollar of assets if they later apply for Medi-Cal.; Read the guide
Personal needs allowance: Also called: Personal and incidental needs allowance; The part of an SSI/SSP payment that a resident of a licensed care home keeps as their own, after the amount the home is allowed to charge for basic services.; Read the guide
Placement agency: Also called: Referral agency, Senior living adviser; A service that helps a family find a licensed care home that fits a person's needs and budget. It provides no care or housing. California law defines the term broadly and bars a placement agency from referring anyone to an unlicensed home.; Read the guide
Plan of correction: The plan that sets out how and by what date a care home will fix a deficiency found by the licensing agency. Plans of correction are open to the public.; Read the guide
POLST: Also called: Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment; A signed medical order about the treatment a person with serious illness wants now. It is signed by the patient or decision maker and by a physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant, and it does not replace an advance directive.; Read the guide
Power of attorney: Also called: POA, Durable power of attorney; A document in which one person names another to make financial or other decisions on their behalf. Only the person themselves can make one, while still able to, and they can change or end it.; Read the guide
Pre-admission appraisal: Also called: Appraisal, Care assessment; A written assessment a California care home must complete before admitting someone. It covers the person's ability to manage daily activities, mental condition and social factors, and the home uses it to decide whether it can meet the person's needs.; Read the guide
Pressure injury: Also called: Pressure sore, Bedsore; Skin damage from pressure on one area for too long, graded in stages 1 to 4 and also called a pressure sore. In a California care home, stages 1 and 2 are restricted conditions that a physician or licensed professional must treat, and stages 3 and 4 are prohibited conditions.; Read the guide
Private pay: Paying for care with a person's own money, such as income, savings or family help, and not through a public program. Most people pay for assisted living this way, and California sets no limit on private-pay rates.; Read the guide
PRN medication: Also called: As-needed medication; A medication taken only when needed, not on a fixed schedule. In a California care home it requires a physician's written order that states the symptoms it is for, the dose and the limits.; Read the guide
Prohibited health condition: A health condition that a California care home may not admit or keep a resident with, such as a feeding tube or a stage 3 or 4 pressure injury, unless the state grants an exception or a hospice care plan covers it.; Read the guide
Rate increase notice: The written notice a care home must give before raising its rates. California requires advance notice that states the amount and the reasons. An increase caused by a change in the resident's level of care follows a different notice rule.; Read the guide
RCFE: Also called: Residential care facility for the elderly; Residential care facility for the elderly, California's license for assisted living communities, board and care homes and memory care. An RCFE provides housing, meals, non-medical care and supervision, mainly to people 60 and older. It is not a nursing home.; Read the guide
Reappraisal: Also called: Reassessment; An update of a resident's written appraisal. A California care home must do one at least every 12 months and whenever there is a significant change in the resident's condition. It can change the level of care and the fee.; Read the guide
Refund: Money a care home returns, such as part of a pre-admission fee or advance monthly fees after a resident dies. California law sets refund rules for pre-admission fees, and the admission agreement must state the home's refund policy.; Read the guide
Relocation order: Also called: Health condition relocation order, Relocation; A state order that a resident move because of a health condition the home may not legally care for. It is a different process from an eviction by the home, and the resident or representative may ask in writing for a review.; Read the guide
Representative payee: A person or organization that Social Security appoints to receive benefits for someone who cannot manage them. A power of attorney does not give this authority. The payee must spend the benefits on the person's needs and keep records.; Read the guide
Resident rights: Also called: Resident's Bill of Rights, Personal rights; The rights a person has while living in a licensed care home. California lists them in a Resident's Bill of Rights, which the home must give in writing at admission and post. An admission agreement cannot make a resident waive them.; Read the guide
Respite care: Also called: Respite stay, Short-term stay; Short-term care that gives a family caregiver relief. It can last a few hours or several weeks, and can be given at home, at an adult day program or as a short stay in a licensed care home.; Read the guide
Responsible party: Also called: Responsible person, Resident representative; A term used in two ways. In California's licensing rules, a responsible person has authority to act for the resident, which alone does not make them liable for the bill. In a contract, a responsible party may be someone who has agreed to pay.; Read the guide
Restricted health condition: A health condition a California care home may accept only under conditions the regulations set, such as oxygen use, a catheter, diabetes or a healing wound. Skilled tasks must be done by the resident or by a licensed professional.; Read the guide
Reverse mortgage: Also called: HECM, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage; A loan against a home that requires no monthly mortgage payments and must be repaid when the last borrower no longer lives there. A long stay in a care facility can count as no longer living there, unless a co-borrower remains in the home.; Read the guide
Room and board: The housing and meals part of a care home's monthly charge, as distinct from care services. The Assisted Living Waiver, CalAIM Community Supports, PACE and the Medicare hospice benefit do not pay for it.; Read the guide
Secured perimeter: Also called: Locked perimeter, Secured unit; Locked exterior doors or perimeter gates at a home that cares for residents with dementia. In California this needs fire clearance approval and either the resident's signed voluntary consent or a conservator's court order, and it may not take the place of trained staff.; Read the guide
Share of cost: Also called: SOC; The amount a person must pay, or promise to pay, toward health care each month before Medi-Cal starts to pay. It works like a monthly deductible and applies when countable income is above the limit for no-cost Medi-Cal.; Read the guide
Significant change in condition: A change in a resident's health, thinking or behavior, such as a stroke or new wandering, that requires the home to update its appraisal and tell the resident's medical professional and representative.; Read the guide
Skilled nursing facility: Also called: SNF, Nursing home, Convalescent hospital; A medical facility that must provide 24-hour skilled nursing care along with rehabilitation services. In California it is licensed by the Department of Public Health, a different agency from the one that licenses assisted living.; Read the guide
Spousal impoverishment protections: Also called: Spousal protection; Medi-Cal rules that let the spouse of a person who needs long-term care keep additional income and assets, so that paying for one spouse's care does not leave the other with very little.; Read the guide
SSI/SSP: Also called: Supplemental Security Income, State Supplementary Payment; Supplemental Security Income is a federal monthly payment for people who are 65 or older, blind or disabled and who have limited income and few resources. California adds its own State Supplementary Payment. Together they are written SSI/SSP.; Read the guide
Staff-to-resident ratio: Also called: Staffing ratio; The number of staff on duty compared with the number of residents. California sets no fixed ratio for assisted living or memory care. The legal standard is enough competent staff at all times to meet residents' needs.; Read the guide
Substantiated complaint: Also called: Unsubstantiated, Unfounded; A complaint finding that means the evidence shows the allegation is more likely than not true. The other findings are unsubstantiated, meaning not enough evidence to prove a violation, and unfounded, meaning the allegation could not have happened or had no reasonable basis.; Read the guide
Sundowning: Restlessness, agitation, irritability and confusion that begin or get worse as daylight fades in some people living with dementia. Being overly tired can add to it.; Read the guide
Survivors Pension: Also called: VA Survivors Pension; A monthly VA payment for qualified surviving spouses of wartime veterans who meet income and net worth limits. A spouse who needs another person's help with daily activities may qualify for a higher amount called Aid and Attendance.; Read the guide
Title 22: The part of the California Code of Regulations that holds the detailed rules for care homes, including who a home may admit, staffing, medications and residents' personal rights. The statute behind it is in the Health and Safety Code.; Read the guide
Two-person transfer: Also called: Two-person assist; Help from two staff members to move a person, for example between a bed and a chair. California's care home regulations have no section on it, so each home decides whether its staff can provide it.; Read the guide
Type A citation: Also called: Type A deficiency, Type A violation; A citation for the most serious type of licensing violation in California: an immediate risk to the health, safety or personal rights of people in care. It is always issued, even if the home corrects the problem on the spot.; Read the guide
Type B citation: Also called: Type B deficiency, Type B violation; A citation for a licensing violation that, if not corrected, may become an immediate risk to the health, safety or personal rights of people in care. It is a step below Type A. Examples include faulty medical record keeping and inadequate staff training.; Read the guide
Unlawful detainer: The court case a care home must win before it can remove a resident who stays after an eviction notice. It is heard in superior court.; Read the guide
VA Aid and Attendance: Also called: Aid and Attendance, A&A; A monthly amount the Department of Veterans Affairs adds to a VA pension for wartime veterans and surviving spouses who need another person's help with daily activities. A person must qualify for the pension first, and VA does not pay the care home.; Read the guide
Wandering: Also called: Exit-seeking, Unsafe wandering; Walking about that is common in people living with dementia. California's rules call it unsafe wandering when a resident at risk enters a hazardous area. Leaving the home unsupervised is called elopement.; Read the guide

These definitions are general information. Where a term has a legal meaning in California, the linked guide gives the rule and its source.

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