Three documents every California care home must hand you
Three documents belong to you before you sign anything, at any licensed care home in California. You do not need a reason, a lawyer, or a relationship with the home — the Health and Safety Code entitles any member of the public or any prospective resident to each of them. This page gives you the words to ask with, what should arrive, and the state’s own sentence to point to if anyone hesitates. Asking is ordinary; the law is written so that asking is ordinary.
1. A blank copy of the complete admission agreement
What to say
“Could I have a blank copy of your complete admission agreement? I’d like to read it before we visit.”
What you’ll get
The full contract — every page, including attachments — with the services, rates, and refund conditions the home actually uses, before a signing table is involved. The home may charge copying or mailing cost, and may take the time copying or mailing requires, but availability itself is immediate and unconditional.
The state’s words
“Every residential care facility for the elderly shall make blank complete copies of its admission agreement available to the public immediately, subject to time required for copying or mailing, at cost, upon request.”
The same section requires the home to “conspicuously post in a location accessible to the public view within the facility either a complete copy of the admission agreement, or a notice of its availability from the facility” (§1569.881(b)) — so a copy, or the notice of how to get one, should already be visible when you walk in.
2. The three-year rate-increase history
What to say
“Could I have your most recent rate-increase disclosure — the one covering the last three years?”
What you’ll get
A document the home must prepare fresh each January, showing its average monthly rate increases — living-unit rates and service fees together — for each of the previous three years, as a dollar amount and a percentage. It is the one piece of pricing history the law puts in writing, and it is yours while you are still comparing homes.
The state’s words
“On or before January 31 of each year, the licensee of a licensed residential care facility for the elderly shall prepare a document disclosing its average monthly rate increases, inclusive of rates for living units and service fees, for each of the previous 3 years.”
“The licensee shall provide a copy of the most recent disclosure required by this section to any prospective resident, or his or her representative.”
One footnote: continuing care retirement communities — homes holding a certificate of authority for continuing care contracts — are exempt from this particular disclosure (§1569.658(d)). Newly licensed homes disclose only the years they have.
3. The ombudsman’s contacts, in the agreement itself
What to say
Usually nothing — this one must already be inside, or attached to, every admission agreement. If you are reading a blank agreement from card 1 and cannot find it, that is worth asking about: “Where is the ombudsman notice in this agreement?”
What you’ll get
The current phone number, website, and email for the local long-term care ombudsman — the state’s free, independent resource for residents — plus the licensing division’s website, and a copy of the resident rights the law attaches to every agreement.
The state’s words
“In addition to any other notice a licensee is required by law to provide to residents, a written notice, including the current telephone number, internet website address, and email address for the local long-term care ombudsman and the internet website address for the Community Care Licensing Division of the State Department of Social Services shall be included in, or as an attachment to, all admission agreements.”
The statute goes on: the notice must state that the ombudsman is a resource both for “accessing additional information regarding resident care at the facility” and for “reporting resident care complaints” (§1569.885(d)(1)–(2)), and a copy of the applicable resident rights must be attached to the agreement (§1569.885(e)).
What if a home says no?
Point to the sentence — each card above carries the exact citation. A home that declines a document the law entitles you to is telling you something useful while you can still choose freely. You can also ask the Community Care Licensing Division about any licensed home, and check any home’s public record — license status, capacity, and inspection history — free on this site, straight from the state’s files.
Where does this come from?
Every quoted sentence above is the California Health and Safety Code verbatim (§§1569.881, 1569.658, 1569.885), readable in full at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. We add the citations and the plain-language notes, and nothing else. This is public-record information, not legal advice. Signing paperwork? The order it legally happens in is covered in the real admission sequence.