Beta Hospice Care is a Care Coordination Agency listed by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS).Beta is listed by DHCS. Here’s how to check
  1. Find Beta on the DHCS list. Beta is listed as a participating Care Coordination Agency under the name Beta Hospice Care. How to verify Beta
  2. No charge for care coordination. Medi-Cal pays Beta. Residents pay room and board. Costs and room and board
  3. Your choice. You may choose any Care Coordination Agency listed by DHCS and any participating home. Rights and complaints
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Assisted Living Waiver

How to apply for California's Assisted Living Waiver, step by step

Applying for the Assisted Living Waiver is a series of stages, not one form, and a Care Coordination Agency does most of the paperwork with you.

This page is the application itself, the steps for anyone applying with any agency. You apply for the Assisted Living Waiver (ALW) through a Care Coordination Agency (CCA), not on a state website; Beta ALW takes the application online, with saved progress (apply online). Applying is a series of stages rather than one form, and a CCA does most of the paperwork with you. The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) decides eligibility and releases openings; applying asks Beta to be your agency.

Asking to join the waitlist is not the same as being enrolled, and no agency can guarantee a slot, approval, a home or a timeline. The ten steps: fit check, choose an agency, waitlist request, wait, opening, nurse assessment, choose a home, paperwork, move-in, check-ins.

Apply for ALW

Three ways to start with Beta: apply online, call (747) 293-5777, or ask for a callback.

The ten steps

Ask Beta's ALW team which step you are on.

  1. Find out if ALW may fit. You check the six requirements. See who qualifies. Who leads: you, with a quick fit check or a call.
  2. Choose a Care Coordination Agency. You pick a state-listed agency for your county. It does the paperwork, assessment and care planning with you. Beta can be yours. What a CCA does. Who leads: you.
  3. Ask to be added to the state's waitlist. Your agency screens your request within seven calendar days and confirms in writing within three calendar days after screening. Keep that letter. Your place on the waitlist dates from the day the request reached DHCS. How the waitlist works. Who leads: your agency.
  4. Wait, and stay ready. Keep Medi-Cal active. Keep your contact details current. Tell your agency if you move or your health changes. Who decides whether Medi-Cal is active with no share of cost: the county Medi-Cal office.
  5. An opening is released to you. DHCS keeps one master waitlist and releases openings (it calls them slots) to agencies in priority order, when the state releases capacity. Current policy generally gives the agency 60 days from DHCS's notice to submit a complete application. After a slot opens. Who decides: DHCS.
  6. The nurse assessment and your care plan. A nurse from your agency assesses how much help you need, then writes your care plan, the Individualized Service Plan (ISP), with you. About the assessment. Who leads: your agency, with you; DHCS decides eligibility after the assessment.
  7. Choose a home that takes ALW. You choose a home on the state's list that can meet your plan and agrees to admit you. A listed home may have no room. How to choose a home. Who decides: you choose; the home decides on admission.
  8. Enrollment paperwork. Your agency collects the forms, signatures and records and submits the package to DHCS. What to gather. Who leads: your agency; DHCS approves enrollment.
  9. Move-in and first month. Move-in happens after DHCS approves enrollment and the home confirms the room. Services in the care plan begin. Who leads: you, your agency and the home.
  10. Ongoing check-ins. Your care coordinator visits you every month, by telehealth if you choose that, and reassesses when your needs change. Life after enrollment. Who leads: your agency.

Important: Joining the waitlist adds your name to the state's list. It isn't enrollment. DHCS keeps the master waitlist and decides when a slot is released, and no CCA, Beta included, can guarantee a slot, approval, facility admission or a timeline. A home on the state's list is not a promise of an open bed. A released opening is not final approval. ALW does not pay room and board. Ask Beta's ALW team which step you are on and what is waiting on you, a home or the state.

What's different depending on where you're starting

Starting situationWhat's different for youGuide
A nursing home or hospitalAt least 60 days in a nursing facility or other institutional setting when the waitlist request is submitted puts you in the first priority group. Discharge timing matters.Leaving a nursing home for ALW
Home or the communityCommunity waitlist rules apply. Staying ready and keeping Medi-Cal active are the main jobs.Applying from home
Already in an assisted-living homeThe home has to take ALW, and an existing-resident process applies.Already living in an assisted-living home
Public subsidized housingThe housing and care-provider arrangement differs from an assisted-living home.ALW in public subsidized housing

Which documents will I need?

You don't need any documents to start. A name, date of birth, county and a rough idea of Medi-Cal status is enough. What's needed later depends on your starting point, and your agency fills out the official forms with you. See what to gather now and what can wait. The forms themselves, by DHCS name and number, are explained on the ALW forms page.

How long does it all take?

There is no dependable timeline, and we won't quote an average. The wait for an opening depends on your priority group and the state's capacity. Once DHCS releases an opening, current policy generally gives your agency 60 days to submit the complete application. Read what affects the wait.

Apply for ALW, or call Beta and explain what is happening now. Applying asks Beta to be your agency; the state decides eligibility and releases openings. No documents are needed for the first conversation, and medical records or identification numbers should not be sent by ordinary email.

About this informationUpdated October 26, 2026. Reviewed August 27, 2026. Program details may change. View official sources and page limitations.

Written by Beta's ALW team and reviewed by Sergio B., Program Coordinator, against the official sources this page lists; facts checked through August 27, 2026. Where this page and an official source differ, the source controls.

California Department of Health Care ServicesAssisted Living WaiverOpen official sourceCalifornia Department of Health Care ServicesALW Policy Letter 24-002, Release of ALW Slots and Waitlist ManagementOpen official sourceCalifornia Department of Health Care ServicesCare Coordination Agencies Provider EnrollmentOpen official sourceCalifornia Department of Health Care ServicesALW SNF Transition ChecklistOpen official sourceCalifornia Department of Health Care ServicesALW Existing Facility Resident Transition ChecklistOpen official sourceCalifornia Department of Health Care ServicesALW Policy Letter 24-001, TelehealthOpen official sourceCalifornia Department of Health Care ServicesALW Program Participating FacilitiesOpen official sourceCalifornia Department of Health Care Services2026 ALW Reimbursement RatesOpen official source

This page gives general California ALW information. DHCS decides eligibility after the nurse assessment and releases openings. Each home decides its own admissions. Nothing here is an eligibility decision or a promise of enrollment, and it does not guarantee a place in a home. You may choose any Care Coordination Agency listed by DHCS and any participating home.

Something out of date? Tell Beta's ALW team.

Call the ALW teamFit check