RCFE License in California

CDSS's overview, "Steps to Obtaining an ASCP License," lists eleven steps for its Adult and Senior Care Program (ASCP) ^[2]. The first licensing visit page covers steps 5 to 11 in more detail.

Not sure which license fits? RCFE vs ARF sets the two side by side.

1. Obtain information online from the Centralized Applications Bureau (CAB) page ^[2].
2. Register for and attend orientation. For an RCFE this is the senior care orientation ^[2][3].
3. Download, complete and print the application package and gather the supporting documents, including the administrator certification ^[2].
4. Submit the application and pay the fee. Keep a copy ^[2].
5. Preliminary review. CDSS assigns a facility number and sends an acceptance letter with the status, your application specialist and a list of missing documents ^[2].
6. Complete the criminal background check process ^[2].
7. Application review. CDSS asks the local fire authority for a clearance inspection and reviews your start-up funds, credit and compliance history. It also schedules the Component II interview ^[2].
8. Obtain a fire clearance ^[2].
9. Pre-licensing inspection and Component III session ^[2].
10. Complete requirements. You send any corrections by the due date ^[2].
11. Final review and license issuance ^[2].

The three components. Component I is the online orientation ^[3]. Component II is an interview by phone or video ^[3]. Component III is an in-person session after the pre-licensing inspection ^[3]. The online orientation costs $50 plus a $4.85 processing fee. The whole $54.85 is non-refundable and non-transferable. You get 30 days of access after you register, so download your certificate within that time ^[3].

The forms. The application is LIC 200 (2/24), Application for a Community Care Facility or Residential Care Facility for the Elderly License ^[6][7]. The instructions are LIC 281 (11/25), the application booklet for a facility license ^[5][7]. The booklet says to send the fee, the Section A documents and the Section B documents as one packet, in the booklet's order, and that the licensing agency returns the whole packet if the forms are incomplete ^[5].

Section A forms. The booklet marks these forms required for an RCFE ^[5]:

The booklet's table does not mark LIC 508D required for an RCFE, but its text asks for it from the applicant and the administrator when the home must have an administrator ^[5]. To ask which applies, call the Centralized Applications Bureau at (833) 827-6084 ^[1].

Section B documents. The booklet marks these required for an RCFE ^[5]:

• Partnership agreement or articles of incorporation or organization, if you apply as a partnership, corporation or LLC
• Verification of administrator qualifications and certification
• Job descriptions
• Personnel policies
• In-service training for staff
• Facility program description
• Rules of discipline and personal rights
• Admission policies
• Sample menu
• Control of property
• Water analysis, if your drinking water is private
• Insurance information (RCFE only)
• Theft and loss policy (RCFE only)
• Neighborhood complaint policy, for non-resident owner homes serving six or fewer
• First aid card
• Orientation certificate

Item B2 in the booklet asks for "Proof of registration in a 40-hour certification program" ^[5]. Health and Safety Code § 1569.616(c)(1) says the program "shall require a minimum of 80 hours of coursework" ^[14], and CDSS lists the "RCFE 80-Hour Initial Certification Training Program" ^[15]. See the administrator certificate page for the course.

Also required. CDSS says every initial application must include an infection control plan, which you can write on LIC 9282 or in your own format ^[1][7][16]. The booklet asks for original signatures, and a health screening under six months old for RCFE applicants ^[5]. The emergency plan must show two relocation sites away from the home ^[5]. CDSS's FAQ says you must name the home's address on the application ^[4].

Health and Safety Code § 1569.185(a)(1) says an "application fee adjusted by facility and capacity shall be charged by the department for the issuance of a license" ^[8]. It goes on: "After initial licensure, a fee shall be charged by the department annually on each anniversary of the effective date of the license." The section sets these amounts ^[8]:

CDSS's own fee schedule, which it links from its licensing fees page, drops the cents and is dated January 2015 ^[9][13].

• The application fee is not refundable or transferable ^[1][4][5].
• CDSS says to put the proposed home's address on the check or money order ^[1].
• The statute sets a "late fee that represents an additional 50 percent of the established current annual fee when a licensee fails to pay the current annual licensing fee on or before the due date" ^[8].
• It also lists a "fee of twenty-five dollars ($25) when an existing licensee seeks to either increase or decrease the licensed capacity of the facility" ^[8].
• The orientation fee is "fifty dollars ($50) for attendance by an individual at a department-sponsored orientation session" ^[8]. Online it costs $54.85 with the processing fee ^[3].

For the administrator certificate's fees, see the administrator certificate page.

When CDSS accepts the application, it mails a Fire Inspection Request (STD 850) to the fire agency you named on LIC 9054 ^[4]. The inspector then contacts you to schedule the inspection ^[2][4]. CDSS asks you to confirm the fire authority's mailing address, fax and phone ^[1]. CDSS's steps overview says the fire clearance is one of the things that can change how long the application takes ^[2].

Section 1569.17 says: "Before and, as applicable, subsequent to issuing a license to any person or persons to operate or manage a residential care facility for the elderly, the department shall secure from an appropriate law enforcement agency a criminal record" ^[11]. The check covers the applicant and the other people the statute names, including "An administrator" and "Any person, other than a client, residing in the facility" ^[11]. CDSS says applicants and adults living in the home must finish the background check before they are present in a licensed home ^[2]. You submit fingerprints by Live Scan, on form LIC 9163 ^[2][7]. CDSS says a person with a conviction other than a minor traffic violation cannot "work or be present in any community care facility" until CDSS grants a criminal record exemption ^[10]. Some crimes cannot be exempted, and exemption papers are due within 45 days of CDSS's letter ^[10]. CDSS's FAQ says a clearance can take several days, or up to a few months if an exemption is needed ^[4].

CDSS expects the whole application process to take 90 to 120 days ^[1]. Its applicant FAQ (undated) calls that the Department's goal and lists what affects it: the fire clearance, construction, criminal record clearances and licensing staff workload ^[4]. The steps overview says the time "can vary" with timely documents, background clearances, fire clearance, construction delays and readiness for the pre-licensing inspection ^[2].

Mail the application and payment to: Department of Social Services, Centralized Applications Bureau, Community Care Licensing, Adult and Senior Care Program, 744 P Street, MS 9-14-8201, Sacramento, CA 95814 ^[1]. The bureau's phone is (833) 827-6084 and its email is CCLASCPCAB@dss.ca.gov ^[1].