ALW referrals for discharge planners, case managers and social workers

Yes, if the patient may meet the six ALW requirements: age, Medi-Cal type, level of care, safety, county and choice. Beta takes the referral through its secure referral portal, or by phone if you prefer. Have your organization, role and work email, and the patient's setting, county and general need. Beta serves all fifteen ALW counties.

Refer a patient or client

Call (747) 293-5777

Beta can help with:

• screening the referral and explaining current DHCS policy
• contacting the patient or their representative and, if they choose Beta, preparing the waitlist request and sending it to DHCS
• the nurse assessment, the care plan, the facility search and the enrollment paperwork once DHCS releases a slot

Beta cannot control: eligibility decisions, the waitlist, when the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) releases a slot, whether a facility admits the person, or your patient's discharge date. Beta is a participating Care Coordination Agency (CCA) listed by DHCS; Beta is not the state.

Quick fit check

A referral is worth making when most of these are "yes" or "possibly":

• 21 or older
• full-scope Medi-Cal with no share of cost, or a share of cost the county is resolving
• nursing-facility level of care
• may be supported safely in assisted living
• one of the fifteen ALW counties
• prefers assisted living to a nursing facility

A fit check is not an eligibility decision. The county decides Medi-Cal eligibility. DHCS decides ALW eligibility after the nurse assessment.

Open the referral checklist

Where is the patient now?

Hospital or nursing facility (SNF)

Admission dates matter. First priority goes to people in an institutional setting for at least 60 days when the waitlist request is submitted. ALW cannot meet a discharge date, so keep your safe discharge plan running. Hospital and SNF referrals

Community, clinic or agency

Your client lives at home and needs more help than family, In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) or other supports can give. DHCS releases slots to community applicants in the order received, when capacity remains. Community referrals

Already in an assisted-living facility

A resident of a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE) or an Adult Residential Facility (ARF) may meet the ALW requirements if the facility takes ALW. Living there does not enroll anyone. Guide for current residents

Records and identifiers

Keep names, identifiers, records and clinical details out of ordinary email. If records are needed later, Beta's ALW team tells you how to send them. In an emergency, call 911.

The waitlist, briefly

DHCS keeps the master ALW waitlist and controls slot release. Under Policy Letter 24-002, people in an institutional setting for at least 60 days come first. Next come people with imminent need documented by Adult Protective Services (APS), then by the Long-Term Care Ombudsman. Community requests follow in the order received, when capacity remains. A documented APS or Ombudsman referral places a person in a priority group; it is never a shortcut. No CCA can promise a slot or a waiting time, and a waiver slot is not a bed.

How the waitlist works

What happens after you refer

1. You send the referral from the portal, or a coordinator takes it by phone. A coordinator calls you within 24 hours, Monday to Friday.
2. Beta contacts the patient or their representative. ALW is the patient's application.
3. If they choose Beta, Beta prepares the waitlist request with them and sends it to DHCS.
4. The request waits until DHCS releases a slot, in priority order.
5. Then the nurse assessment, the care plan, the facility choice and enrollment.

What happens after a referral

Send the referral from the portal, or call now. Keep a safe discharge plan running meanwhile. How the referral portal works