While you wait: a checklist to keep your ALW application ready

Waiting for an Assisted Living Waiver (ALW) slot can take a long time, and nothing you do can speed the list up. What you can do is make sure nothing on your side holds things up when your turn comes.

Get help while you wait

Print this and check it monthly.

Important: Being ready can't create a slot or move you up the list; the state controls both. Checking monthly is our suggestion, not a rule, and the state doesn't require it.

The checklist

Contact details

If we can't reach you when a slot is released, everything stalls. Check:

• The phone number Beta has for you is the one you answer, and voicemail works.
• Mailing address and email are current.
• The person who speaks for the applicant is named, with any power of attorney or conservatorship papers.
• A backup contact is on file.
• You have your Beta contact's number and the written waitlist confirmation.

Medi-Cal

ALW needs full-scope Medi-Cal with no monthly share of cost, active the whole time you wait. How to check yours

• Medi-Cal is active, full-scope, with no share of cost.
• Every county renewal or verification notice is answered right away.
• The county has your current address and knows about income or household changes.

Care and safety information

The assessment goes faster when the facts are written down. Keep one page with:

• The medication list, with doses and times.
• Doctors and other providers, including home health or hospice.
• The diagnoses that affect daily care.
• What the person needs help with: bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, moving and transfers.
• Memory, behavior and supervision needs, including at night.
• Hospital or nursing-home records from the last year.

Thinking about the home

You'll choose a home once a slot is released, but you can narrow it down now. Search participating facilities

• Which counties or areas would work, and what needs to be nearby.
• The care the home must be able to provide.
• Accessibility, room, language and cultural preferences, and what the person themselves wants.
• If you've spoken with a home: being on the state's list is not a reserved bed, so note who told you what and when.

Planning the monthly payment

ALW pays for care services; the person pays the home a monthly amount for room, meals and basic care. See current costs and room and board

• The person's income and benefits, including SSI/SSP (the monthly federal and state benefit for people with low income).
• This year's room-and-board amount and the personal-needs amount the person keeps.
• Possible extra charges, and who will help if needed.

One folder

Keep everything in one folder, paper or digital. Open the full document checklist

Call us if the person's situation changes

Where the person lives, and when they moved, can change which part of the waitlist applies. Tell your Beta contact about a hospital stay, a nursing-facility or assisted-living move, a change of county or housing, or a big change in health. Full list: after enrollment page.

Your next step

Want help getting onto the waitlist? Ask Beta's ALW team.

Get help while you wait

Read What Happens After a Slot Opens