California proposes tighter inspections for assisted living

California’s Department of Social Services (DSS) has propsed legislation to increase the frequency of inspections and tighten the oversight of the state’s 7,000+ assisted living communities, according to a Justice in Aging policy brief.

California’s assisted living communities, licensed as Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly, are subject to aggressive state regulatory policies governing many aspects of operations and clincial care, including food service, resident rights, staff training, criminal background checks and dementia care, among others. But, for the past decade, budget pressures have weakened the system; the state has performed an inspection at most sites only once every five years, making it one of the infrequent inspection processes in the United States, notes a 2013 policy position paper from the California Assisted Living Association.

The current legislation proposes an incremental shift in inspection frequencies, with inspections occurring once every three years in 2017, once every two years in 2018, and annually in 2019.

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.