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 Waivercare coordination
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4 lessonsAbout 20 minutesNo CE or licensure credit

What ALW is, and who it is for

A short guide for families and representatives in four lessons: what the Assisted Living Waiver (ALW) pays for and what it does not, who may qualify by the published criteria, how the waitlist works, who decides each step, and what a care coordination agency does.

Begin the courseSee the sourcesPrint the job aids

Written for

  • Families and representatives
Course version
2026.10.3
Text checked against its sources

Before you begin

What you will be able to do

  • Explain to a relative, in one sentence, that ALW pays for care services and the person pays the home for room and board.
  • Check a loved one's situation against the published ALW criteria and name which ones are still open, without deciding eligibility.
  • Tell what being on the waitlist means and what it does not, without expecting a date.
  • Name who decides each step (the person, the county, the agency, DHCS and the home) and know where to take a question or a concern.

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In this course

  1. What ALW pays for, and what it does notAbout 5 minutes · Not yet
  2. Who may qualify, and where ALW is offeredAbout 5 minutes · Not yet
  3. The waitlist: what it means and what it does notAbout 5 minutes · Not yet
  4. Who decides each step, and what the agency doesAbout 5 minutes · Not yet

Sources

Sources behind this course

Each lesson lists the sources it uses. Open the original for the exact rule, form or instruction that applies to your work. The source library describes each one in more detail.

California DHCS

Assisted Living Waiver program page

The program description, the eligibility criteria, the counties, the current waiver and its amendments, grievances and enrollment information.

Where to look: The Eligibility, Current Waiver, Approved Amendments, Emergency Amendments and Current Enrollment sections.

Open the DHCS ALW page
California DHCS

The Assisted Living Waiver (ALW) Program: description and eligibility (effective January 1, 2024)

The program description, room and board, the counties, the share-of-cost rule, where Medi-Cal applications go, and how level of care is assessed.

Where to look: The Determining Medi-Cal Eligibility and Determining Level of Care Eligibility sections. Its 2024 dollar amounts are dated.

Open the DHCS ALW description and eligibility sheet (PDF)
California DHCS, approved by CMS

ALW waiver application CA.0431.R04.01, 2024 to 2029, as amended March 1, 2025

The waiver's target groups, selection of entrants, level-of-care criteria and assessment, the tiers, and freedom of choice.

Where to look: Appendix B-1 (target groups), B-2 (cost limit and safety), B-3 (selection of entrants), B-6 (level of care) and B-7 (freedom of choice).

Open the current ALW waiver (PDF)
California DHCS

ALW Policy Letter 24-002, Release of ALW slots and waitlist management (October 7, 2024)

The priority order for slot release, the 60-day institutional rule and its proof, screening and notice times, the 60-day application window and the no-contact rule.

Where to look: Definitions, Policy, CCA Responsibilities and footnote 1.

Open Policy Letter 24-002 (PDF)
California DHCS

ALW Policy Letter 26-001, Long-Term Care Ombudsman referrals for the ALW (June 22, 2026)

Who may receive an Ombudsman referral for ALW priority, and who may request it.

Where to look: The list of criteria and the note on who may request a referral.

Open Policy Letter 26-001 (PDF)
California CDSS (regulation text on Cornell LII)

Title 22, section 87457: Pre-admission appraisal

The RCFE interview, consent and determination of suitability before admission.

Where to look: Subdivisions (a) to (c).

Open section 87457 on Cornell LII
Call the ALW teamFit check