A State-by-State Guide to Assisted Living, Memory Care, and Independent Living Regulations

Assisted living, memory care, and independent living communities are regulated by state governments, which means that rules and requirements will vary by state. Regulations also vary by the type of care a community provides.

In most cases, the state’s health or social services department sets regulation requirements for memory care and assisted living. Once a community is licensed, it will receive regular inspections. Some states inspect annually while others let two years pass between inspections. Regardless of how often inspections occur, all states have inspection reports. You can check a community’s license and inspection report history by contacting the state department that’s in charge of licensing; many states post inspection reports online. You can report a violation through this same agency.

Memory care is often considered a specialized form of assisted living, and is licensed through the same state agency. Assisted living communities must meet extra requirements in order to offer memory care. These could include safety features in the community as well as staff training. These requirements will vary by state, too.

Since independent living communities don’t provide senior care, they are not licensed or regulated in the same way as assisted living and memory care communities. But they typically need to meet state and city requirements for apartment buildings, such as fire safety and rights governing renters. Some cities inspect rental properties.

You can find information on how your state regulates assisted living, memory care, and independent living below.