Programs for Your Health

What is Assisted Living?

“Assisted Living” is a term that encompasses three types of facilities licensed, certified or registered by the Department of Health Services. All assisted living facilities combine housing with services to help people remain as independent as possible. A brief definition of each facility type follows:

A CBRF is a place where:

  • five or more adults live, who are not related to the operator or administrator,
  • do not require care above intermediate level nursing care
  • reside and receive care, treatment, or services above the level of room and board, but that
  • provides not more than three hours of nursing care per week per resident.

There are three sizes of CBRFs based upon the number of residents; small (5-8), medium (9-20), and large (21 or more). They also differ by class, which is determined by the resident’s ability to move about (ambulation), to follow directions (mental capacity), and to act for self-preservation under emergency conditions.