How to Check a California Care Home's License and Inspection Reports

Why the state record matters

Every licensed residential care home in California (an RCFE, often called assisted living or board and care) has a public file with the state. It shows the license status, inspection visits, citations and complaint investigations. When you’re comparing a few homes for a parent, it’s the one source that applies the same rules to all of them.

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) licenses these homes and publishes their licensing reports online. This guide covers how to find a home’s record, what its license status means, and how to read the reports. If you’re new to the term RCFE, start with What is an RCFE?

Step 1: Get the license number

Each home has a state license number. Every listing in our California directory shows it, so you can copy it from there.

You can also confirm it in person. Homes must post their license in a prominent place inside the facility where the public can see it. If the number on the wall doesn’t match the one you looked up, ask why.

Step 2: Look the home up on the state’s Facility Search

CDSS runs a Facility Search website (ccld.dss.ca.gov/carefacilitysearch) with information on licensed facilities throughout California. Look up the home there, and check that the license number on the record matches the one on our listing. That way you know you’re reading the right home’s file.

According to CDSS, the record shows the facility’s license status, the date it was licensed, the regional office responsible for it, visits to the facility, complaints and licensing reports. Complaint investigation reports are posted too.

Keep two limits in mind. The site holds five years of information. And CDSS itself says: “Never rely on this information alone to make a decision about a facility.” For more detail on any citation, call the regional office. CDSS says the office’s phone number appears on the same screen as the facility’s information.

What the license status means

The state’s licensing data gives each RCFE a status. As of May 25, 2025, according to state licensing data, the counts were:

Status in the state data	RCFEs	What it tells you
Licensed	7,939	Holds a license to operate
On probation	23	Licensed, but the license has been placed on probation
Pending	739	Counted separately from licensed homes; ask CDSS what it means for that home
Closed	3,821	Still in the state file, but no longer counted as licensed

These are the labels as they appear in the state’s data file. The live search screens may word them differently. Our directory lists only homes the data shows as licensed or on probation.

Licensed

California law doesn’t allow anyone to operate an RCFE without a current valid license or special permit. A licensed home has one.

On probation

A license is placed on probation through a settlement (called a stipulation) or a decision and order under California’s Administrative Procedure Act. The facility then pays a probation monitoring fee for each year it’s on probation. The law also requires an annual unannounced inspection of a home whose license is on probation.

Under Title 22, a licensee that has had a probationary license in the last two years needs CDSS approval before accepting or keeping residents with certain health conditions, including oxygen use and colostomy or ileostomy care. We could not find an official state description of standard probation terms or length. If a home you like is on probation, ask the home and the regional office why, and what the terms are.

Pending

We could not find an official state definition of this status. The label suggests something isn’t final yet, but don’t assume what. If a home you’re considering shows Pending, ask the home for its current license and call the regional office to ask what the status means for that facility.

Closed

We could not find an official definition of this one either. The label suggests the license is no longer active. If a home is still taking residents under a license that shows Closed, ask the regional office before going any further.

Reading an inspection report

A “deficiency” is any failure to comply with the RCFE law or CDSS regulations. When an evaluator finds one during a routine visit, an evaluation or a complaint investigation, they issue a written notice of deficiency, unless the problem is minor and fixed during the visit. A plan to correct each deficiency goes into the notice.

On CDSS’s Facility Evaluation Report form, deficiencies are labeled Type A or Type B:

• Type A is a violation that, if not corrected, poses “a direct and immediate risk to the health, safety, or personal rights of persons in care.”
• Type B is a violation that could become such a risk without correction, a recordkeeping violation that could affect residents’ care or the protection of their resources, or a violation that could affect services residents need.

Unless the plan of correction sets a different deadline, the home must fix deficiencies within 10 days of being notified.

Type A and Type B aren’t equal, so look past the total count. Check what the problem was, when it happened, and whether a later visit shows it was corrected. If the same issue keeps coming back across several years, that’s worth asking the home about.

Reading a complaint investigation

Anyone can file a complaint with CDSS about an RCFE. Unless the complaint is meant to harass or has no reasonable basis, the law requires an onsite inspection within 10 days of receiving it, with limited exceptions. The person who complained must be told the result in writing within 10 business days after the investigation ends.

CDSS’s Complaint Investigation Report form uses four findings:

• Substantiated means the allegation is valid because the evidence meets the preponderance of the evidence standard.
• Unsubstantiated means the allegation may have happened or be valid, but there isn’t enough evidence to prove it.
• Unfounded means the allegation is false, could not have happened, or has no reasonable basis.
• Needs Further Investigation means no determination could be reached by the end of the facility visit.

An unsubstantiated finding isn’t a clean bill of health, and it isn’t proof of a problem either. It means the state couldn’t prove it. Read the report itself for what was alleged and what the investigator found.

How often homes are inspected

Every licensed RCFE is subject to unannounced inspections. Since January 1, 2019, state law has required CDSS to conduct an annual unannounced inspection of every RCFE. That is what the law requires. To see what actually happened at a given home, check the visit dates in its record.

Going beyond the website

The full facility file is kept at the CDSS regional office. You can contact the office and ask to review it. According to CDSS, it holds evaluation visits, complaints the department substantiated, citations, civil penalties and any administrative actions. By law, inspection reports, lists of deficiencies and plans of correction are open to public inspection.

At the home itself, ask to see its most recent licensing information. CDSS says facilities are required by law to provide it, and asks families to contact the department right away if a home can’t or won’t.

If you see something during a visit that doesn’t seem right, you can file a complaint with CDSS; complaints can be confidential or anonymous. Find the current complaint phone number and form on the CDSS Community Care Licensing website, or call the regional office listed for the home in the Care Facility Search.

Before you decide

For each home on your list, write down the license number, the current status, the date of the last inspection, any Type A deficiencies in the past five years, and any substantiated complaints. Put them side by side. Then take your questions to the home and to the regional office.

You can search licensed homes by city or county in our California directory. If you run or represent a listed home and something in its listing is wrong, you can claim the listing.