For assisted-living facilities
What ALW pays your facility, and how to take part
What the Assisted Living Waiver pays an RCFE or ARF in 2026, how a facility takes part through DHCS, and how Beta's coordinators work with you.
If you run a licensed Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE) or Adult Residential Facility (ARF) in an ALW county, the Assisted Living Waiver (ALW) lets Medi-Cal pay your facility a daily rate for an enrolled resident's care. The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) sets the maximum payable rates for 2026 at $95.69 to $270.80 per participant per day, by care tier. ALW never pays room and board. DHCS enrolls your facility. Beta coordinates the resident's care.
Important: Beta is a Care Coordination Agency (CCA): the state-listed organization that does the ALW assessment, care planning and enrollment paperwork with the participant. Beta is not DHCS and cannot approve your enrollment. Working with Beta does not guarantee referrals, create preferred placement or change anyone's waitlist position. "Participating" means a facility is enrolled with DHCS; it does not mean a bed is available, that Beta endorses the facility, or that admission is decided by anyone but you.
Three things that are often confused
| Become an ALW provider | Work with a CCA | Accept a participant |
|---|---|---|
| A DHCS process in three steps. DHCS decides. How to become an ALW provider | Day-to-day work with the resident's care coordinator. Beta is one of the CCAs listed by DHCS. Working with Beta | Your admission decision, within your license. The participant chooses the facility. The facility operations guide |
What ALW pays, and what it doesn't
DHCS publishes the service reimbursement by care tier. It covers the ALW services in the resident's care plan, not room and board, and it is not the resident's income. Room, board and basic services are a separate agreement between you and the resident; what an SSI/SSP resident pays in 2026 is on the costs page. Explain to residents and families what you bill through ALW, what basic services include, any optional charges and how you give notice of changes.
What Beta does
A registered nurse from Beta does the ALW assessment; Beta's care coordinator writes the care plan (the Individualized Service Plan, or ISP) with the participant, arranges the services in it and visits the resident every month. Case management stays independent of the facilities that provide the care. The participant chooses the facility, and you decide admission. Beta does not rank facilities, and a place on the DHCS list is not a recommendation.
Contact the ALW team with an operational question, to introduce your facility, or to correct what this site says about it. The form takes no resident names or health details. For resident records, call and give professional context only; Beta names the route once you are in touch.
Run a home with a published profile here? Show your DHCS listing on your own website with the availability card.
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.
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.