Guides
Senior Living Guides for South Bay Families
Plain-language guides to the questions families ask before they tour: how California licenses care homes, what board and care costs, how to pay, and what to look for. Each one lists the official sources it relies on.
Choosing a home
Assisted Living in California: An Overview
The types of senior living in California, who licenses each, what it costs, how families pay and how to choose.
Read the guideRCFE vs. Assisted Living
In California, a large assisted living community and a six-bed board and care home hold the same license.
Read the guideAssisted Living Tour Checklist
What to look at and 22 questions to ask when you tour an assisted living community or board and care home.
Read the guideSigns It Is Time for Assisted Living
The changes that suggest living alone is no longer working, and what to do first: talk, then see the doctor.
Read the guideLevels of Senior Care in California
Every level of senior care in California side by side, from independent living to skilled nursing, and who licenses it.
Read the guideAssisted Living vs. Nursing Home
How care, licensing, cost and who pays differ between a California RCFE and a skilled nursing facility.
Read the guideAssisted Living vs. Home Care
Staying home with caregivers or moving to a licensed home: hours, supervision, cost and when each fits.
Read the guideWhat Assisted Living Provides
The services a California RCFE must provide, the ones it may add, and what it is not allowed to do.
Read the guideTalking to a Parent About Assisted Living
How to raise assisted living with a parent, what tends to help, and how to involve the doctor and siblings.
Read the guideWhen a Parent Refuses Assisted Living
What a California family can and cannot do when a parent says no, and where to get legal help.
Read the guideHospice in Assisted Living
Whether a person on hospice can move into or stay in a California RCFE, the hospice waiver, and who does what.
Read the guideCaregiver Burnout and Respite Options
The signs of caregiver strain and the short-term relief available in California, from day programs to respite stays.
Read the guideThe Assisted Living Care Assessment
What a California home must assess before admitting someone, and how that sets the care level and price.
Read the guideAssisted Living for Couples
How couples with different care needs can stay together in California assisted living, and what to ask about price.
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Working with a placement agency
What Is a Senior Placement Agency?
What a placement or referral agency does in California, what it does not do, and what state law asks of it.
Read the guidePlacement Agency vs. Searching on Your Own
Searching alone, using a national referral website or working with a local specialist: the trade-offs of each.
Read the guideHow to Choose a Placement Agency
The questions to ask a senior placement agency about pay, homes, tours and your contact details, plus red flags.
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Costs and paying
What Board and Care Costs in California
What drives the monthly price of a board and care home or assisted living, and the ways families pay.
Read the guideMedi-Cal Assisted Living Waiver
California's Assisted Living Waiver in Los Angeles County: who may qualify, what it pays for, and the waitlist.
Read the guideWhat Assisted Living Costs in California
The 2025 survey medians for California and its metro areas, and how base rent and care fees add up.
Read the guideHow to Pay for Assisted Living in California
Every way California families pay for assisted living in one overview, with links to the detailed guides.
Read the guideDoes Medicare Pay for Assisted Living?
Medicare does not pay for assisted living. What it still covers there, and Medi-Cal's separate role.
Read the guideVA Aid and Attendance for Assisted Living
Who may qualify for a VA pension with Aid and Attendance, the current maximum rates, and how to apply.
Read the guideLong-Term Care Insurance in Assisted Living
How a long-term care policy pays in a California RCFE: benefit triggers, the elimination period and the claim.
Read the guideSSI and Board and Care Homes in California
The SSI/SSP rate for people living in licensed care homes: the 2026 amounts and what they mean for a search.
Read the guideCalAIM and Assisted Living Transitions
How a Medi-Cal plan's CalAIM Community Supports can help someone move from a nursing facility to assisted living.
Read the guideAssisted Living Fees: What Is Negotiable
Which assisted living charges California law fixes, which ones a family can ask about, and how to ask.
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Licensing and safety
How to Check an RCFE License
Step by step: look up a California care home's license, inspection reports, citations and complaint findings.
Read the guideWho Regulates Assisted Living in California
The state agency that licenses and inspects care homes, the laws it enforces, and where the Ombudsman fits in.
Read the guideHealth Conditions Assisted Living Can Accept
Which health conditions a California RCFE may accept, which come with conditions, and which are prohibited.
Read the guideAssisted Living Staffing Requirements
What California requires for RCFE staffing, night supervision, training hours and the administrator.
Read the guideMedication Management in Assisted Living
How California RCFEs handle medications: who may do what, storage, as-needed doses and questions to ask.
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Memory care
Memory Care vs. Assisted Living
How memory care differs from assisted living in California, and signs that it may be time to ask about a move.
Read the guideDementia Stages and Care Needs
The early, middle and late stages of dementia in plain terms, and the kind of help each one tends to call for.
Read the guideWhen Is It Time for Memory Care?
The safety and care signs that a person with dementia may need memory care, and the first steps to take.
Read the guideWhat Is Memory Care in California?
Memory care is not a separate license in California. It is an RCFE that follows the state's dementia care rules.
Read the guideTypes of Dementia and Care Options
Alzheimer's, vascular, Lewy body and frontotemporal dementia: how each can change what to look for in a care home.
Read the guideDementia Care at Home vs. Memory Care
Caring for a person with dementia at home or moving to memory care: supervision, safety, strain and cost shape.
Read the guideLiving Options After an Early Dementia Diagnosis
Where a person can live after an early dementia diagnosis, and what to plan while they can still take part.
Read the guideMemory Care Cost in California
What memory care costs in California, why it costs more than assisted living, and what a quote should show.
Read the guideCalifornia Dementia Care Rules
What California requires of a care home that looks after people with dementia, including the 2025 changes.
Read the guideMemory Care Staffing and Training
Dementia training hours, night supervision and staffing rules for California homes, and what to ask.
Read the guideWandering and Exit-Seeking in Memory Care
How California homes handle wandering: door alarms, delayed-egress doors, secured perimeters and consent.
Read the guideSundowning and Behavior Changes
Late-day confusion, agitation and other behavior changes in dementia, and how a care home should respond.
Read the guideDementia Medications in Care Homes
Psychoactive medications for residents with dementia: consent, the right to refuse and what to ask a home.
Read the guideBoard and Care vs. Large Memory Care
A six-bed board and care home compared with a large memory care community for a person with dementia.
Read the guideQuestions to Ask a Memory Care Home
What to ask and look for on a memory care tour in California, beyond the general tour checklist.
Read the guideDaily Life and Activities in Memory Care
What a day in memory care looks like, why routine and activity matter, and what California asks of a home.
Read the guidePaying for Memory Care in California
What is different about paying for memory care: price, insurance triggers, VA, Medi-Cal and planning ahead.
Read the guideMoving a Parent With Dementia Into Memory Care
Planning move day for a person with dementia: timing, what to say, what to bring and the first days.
Read the guideVisiting a Parent in Memory Care
How to visit a parent in memory care: how often, what helps at each stage, and what to do when they ask to go home.
Read the guideLate-Stage Dementia and Hospice in Memory Care
Late-stage dementia needs, when hospice comes in, and whether a person can stay in a California memory care home.
Read the guideDementia, Hospital Stays and Going Back
A hospital stay for a person with dementia: delirium, what the care home needs before the return, and your options.
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Health conditions and care needs
Assisted Living With Parkinson's Disease
What a California care home may do for a person with Parkinson's, what needs a nurse, and what to ask.
Read the guideAssisted Living After a Stroke
When a California care home can take someone after a stroke, who does which care tasks, and how therapy comes in.
Read the guideDiabetes and Insulin in Assisted Living
Who may test blood sugar and give insulin in a California care home, what the home must provide, and what to ask.
Read the guideOxygen in Assisted Living
What California rules require of a resident on oxygen and of the care home, and what to ask before a move.
Read the guideCatheters and Ostomies in Assisted Living
Who must do catheter and ostomy care in a California care home: the resident, a nurse, or trained staff.
Read the guideIncontinence in Assisted Living
What California care homes may manage, what they owe a resident in dignity and skin care, and who pays for supplies.
Read the guideWheelchairs and Transfers in Assisted Living
Wheelchairs, two-person transfers and lifts in a California care home, and the nonambulatory fire clearance.
Read the guideBedridden Residents in Assisted Living
How California defines bedridden, the fire clearance a care home needs, and the 14-day temporary illness rule.
Read the guideWound Care and Pressure Injuries
Which wounds and pressure injury stages a California care home may accept, which are prohibited, and who treats them.
Read the guideFeeding Tubes and Swallowing Problems
Why feeding tubes are prohibited in California care homes, the two exceptions, and how homes handle swallowing problems.
Read the guideAssisted Living for Someone on Dialysis
Living in a California care home while going to a dialysis center: rides, the kidney diet and what to ask.
Read the guideAssisted Living With Heart Failure or COPD
What a California care home may do for a resident with heart failure or COPD: monitoring, diet, oxygen and limits.
Read the guideAssisted Living and Mental Illness
Depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in older adults: what a California care home may accept and what to ask.
Read the guideAssisted Living Under Age 60
When a California assisted living home may admit an adult under 60, and the other licensed options.
Read the guideFall Risk in Assisted Living
What a California care home must do about falls, and why it may not use restraints or full bed rails.
Read the guideVision and Hearing Loss in Assisted Living
What California care homes must do for residents with vision or hearing loss, and what to look for on a tour.
Read the guideAssisted Living During Cancer Care
Living in a California care home during cancer treatment or with advanced cancer, and who may provide which care.
Read the guideInjections in Assisted Living
Who may give insulin, B12, blood thinner and other shots in a California care home, and how families arrange it.
Read the guideAssisted Living With ALS or Multiple Sclerosis
What a California care home may do for a person with ALS or MS as needs grow, and where the rules draw the line.
Read the guideAlcohol, Smoking and Cannabis Rules
What California rules and resident rights say about drinking, smoking and cannabis in a care home, and what to ask.
Read the guideInfections and Outbreaks in Assisted Living
TB screening, infection control plans and what a California care home must do when illness spreads.
Read the guideSpecial Diets in Assisted Living
Medical, texture-modified, halal, kosher and vegetarian diets in a California care home: the rules and what to ask.
Read the guideTherapy and Home Health in Assisted Living
How visiting nurses and therapists work inside a California care home, what the rules require, and who pays.
Read the guideEnd-of-Life Care in Assisted Living
Staying in a California care home through the end of life: hospice, what staff may do, and what to settle early.
Read the guidePOLST and Advance Directives in Assisted Living
POLST, do-not-resuscitate forms and advance directives in a California care home: what staff must do with them.
Read the guideWhen Assisted Living Is Not Enough
Signs a person's needs have outgrown a California care home, the options, and how a move to more care happens.
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Contracts and resident rights
Resident Rights in a California RCFE
The rights California law gives every assisted living and board and care resident, and who enforces them.
Read the guideThe RCFE Admission Agreement in California
What a California assisted living admission agreement must contain, the fee and refund rules, and what to read first.
Read the guideAssisted Living Rate Increases in California
When a California RCFE may raise rates, the written notice it owes you, and how to respond to an increase.
Read the guideAssisted Living Eviction Rules in California
The five reasons a California RCFE may evict a resident, the notice it must give, and who to call.
Read the guideComplaints About Assisted Living
What to do when something is wrong at a California care home: the home, the Ombudsman, a licensing complaint, 911.
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Moving in
Emergency Assisted Living Placement
When a move has to happen in days: what can be hurried, what California does not let a home skip.
Read the guideAssisted Living Move-In Requirements
The paperwork and steps before move-in day in California: medical assessment, TB exam, appraisal, what to bring.
Read the guideHospital Discharge to Assisted Living
Going from a California hospital to assisted living: discharge planning rights, the order of steps, what the home needs.
Read the guideSkilled Nursing to Assisted Living
Leaving rehab or a nursing facility for assisted living: when it works, Medicare's day counts, and the steps.
Read the guideThe First Month in Assisted Living
What the first weeks in a California care home look like, how to help a parent settle, and when to speak up.
Read the guideMoving a Parent to California Assisted Living
Bringing a parent from another state: doctors and records, Medicare plans, Medi-Cal in general terms, and timing.
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