| Many seniors and their families prefer the | | | | - Senior housing license types specific to small |
| homelike feel of a smaller senior housing | | | | senior housing communities often include phrases |
| community. With 247 different senior housing | | | | such as “Family Home”, “Foster |
| license types nationwide—about 60 specific to | | | | Care”, “Personal Care”, “Group |
| facilities with 20 or less beds—identifying these | | | | Home” or “Boarding Care”. |
| communities often proves arduous. Smaller | | | | |
| communities fall under the umbrella category of | | | | - Some states that use general names such as |
| “Assisted Living”, and in many states are | | | | “Assisted living” as licensing designations |
| not distinguished from larger assisted living | | | | will also specify community size. Some do so |
| communities. | | | | overtly with words like “Small” (Michigan), |
| Such is the case in states like California and | | | | while others use code such as “Type-I” |
| Colorado, where assisted living communities of all | | | | (Hawaii). |
| sizes are called “Residential Care Facilities for | | | | |
| the Elderly” and “Assisted Living | | | | - Senior Housing features a License Type |
| Residences” respectively. Senior housing | | | | Reference which provides a detailed definition of |
| license type names are more helpful in states | | | | all 247 license types categorized by state. The |
| such as Washington, where senior housing | | | | resource proves especially useful when searching |
| communities with no more than six residents are | | | | for housing in an unfamiliar area. |
| called “Adult Family Homes”. | | | | |
| The following are a few general tips for quickly | | | | Deciphering license types for senior housing in the |
| identifying small senior housing communities from | | | | US can be a convoluted process due to the lack |
| their senior housing license type: | | | | of standardization from state to state. |