Assisted Living Policy and Regulation: State Survey

In 1992, the National Academy for State Health Policy published ABuilding Assisted Living For The Elderly Into Public Policy: A Guide For States@ to help state policy makers examine an emerging concept for providing residential, home like settings for elders. The Guide examined the confusion surrounding the use of the term "assisted living" and the principles that are associated with assisted living as distinct from board and care, residential care, personal care homes and other terms. The Guide also described policy initiatives in five states: Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Washington and the financing sources for housing construction and operation and services. Since 1992, a number of states have issued regulations, are presently developing regulations or have initiated a study process to consider assisted living as a separate category. As the trend continues, the use of the term assisted living still brings confusion and variations in definition and meaning among states. This report is intended to update information provided in the original guide and to describe policies in all states that can be identified as licensing or providing assisted living. In addition, it seeks to differentiate assisted living from board and care and similar types of care. [101 PDF pages]