California Community Care Facility Plan of Operation Requirements

A California community care facility Plan of Operation must address the 14 categories of information listed in Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations, Section 80022, and once approved it becomes the operating blueprint the facility is bound to follow. The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) uses the plan to decide whether an applicant has the staffing, physical setup, policies, and resources to keep residents safe. After approval, any change that affects resident services needs licensing agency approval before it takes effect.¹

The 14 Categories Section 80022 Requires

The plan is a single written document, but it is really a package. Section 80022 requires it to include each of the following:

Purpose and program goals: a narrative describing the population the facility will serve and the methods it will use.
Admission policies: written criteria for accepting residents, including the conditions the facility cannot handle.
Admission agreement: a copy of the contract each resident or their representative will sign.
Administrative organization: an explanation of the management structure, where applicable.
Staffing plan: job descriptions, qualifications, and the number of staff on each shift.
In-service education plan: a schedule for ongoing staff training, where the facility category requires it.
Building sketch: a floor plan with room dimensions, building capacity, and any rooms designated for nonambulatory residents.
Grounds sketch: a drawing of the property with dimensions of all outdoor areas residents use, including driveways, fences, pools, gardens, and recreation spaces.
Sample menus: one full calendar week of menus showing what meals and snacks will be served and when.
Transportation arrangements: how residents who lack their own transportation will get where they need to go.
Rate-setting policy: the facility’s pricing structure and refund policy.
Personal property handling: whether the facility will manage residents’ money, belongings, or valuables, and if so, the safeguarding methods.
Community resources: consultants and outside services the facility will draw on as part of its program.
Visitation policy: rules on family visits and other communication with residents.

Two situations require additional detail beyond the standard 14 categories. Facilities that plan to use delayed egress devices, and those that plan to admit residents with restricted health conditions, must include extra material covering staff training plans and the specific conditions the facility is prepared to handle.¹

Administrative Organization Documentation

For corporations, LLCs, partnerships, and public agencies, the administrative organization piece is captured on form LIC 309. The form collects entity-specific attachments: corporations file their articles of incorporation, bylaws, and a board resolution authorizing the application; LLCs provide the operating agreement; partnerships submit the partnership agreement.²

The LIC 309 also requires the names and addresses of anyone owning 10 percent or more of the entity, a full list of directors or managing members, and the terms of their offices. Out-of-state or foreign entities must designate a California representative and attach the entity’s registration to do business in the state. The form must be updated and resubmitted any time there is a change in partners, officers, or corporate structure.²

Staffing Plan and Training Documentation

The staffing plan must identify every position, the duties assigned to it, and the minimum qualifications. It also has to show that coverage will be safe around the clock, and the specific ratios depend on facility type. For adult residential facilities, daytime staffing for residents who rely on others for all daily living activities cannot drop below one direct care staff member per three residents. At night, facilities with 15 or fewer residents need at least one person on call on the premises; facilities with 16 to 100 residents must have one staff member on duty and awake, with another on call within 30 minutes.³

Training is where licensing evaluators tend to look closely. All staff must receive on-the-job training or demonstrate related experience in areas matching their duties, including nutrition and food preparation, housekeeping and sanitation, client care and communication, assistance with self-administered medications, recognizing early signs of illness, and awareness of available community services. Staff providing direct care must also receive first aid training from a qualified organization. Every training session must be documented in the employee’s personnel file.⁴

Some programs need another layer. Facilities that assist residents with inhalers or run specialized care programs like incontinence or contracture therapy must have a licensed health professional design the training, supervise staff performance at least annually, and provide written documentation of the procedures and the names of trained staff.⁴

Admission Policies and the Admission Agreement

The written admission policies should identify who the facility is equipped to serve, and, just as clearly, any health conditions or behaviors it cannot accommodate. Evaluators compare admission criteria against the staffing plan and physical layout to check whether the facility can actually deliver what it says it will.

The admission agreement itself is regulated separately by Section 80068. It must spell out the basic services included, any optional services available, the rate and payment terms, conditions for modifying the agreement, the refund policy, and the grounds for termination. It must also state that the licensing agency has the right to enter and inspect the facility. If a resident has a restricted health condition, the agreement must include the resident’s consent to follow the care plan developed for that condition.⁵

Rate changes have their own rule. The facility must give at least 30 calendar days’ written notice before changing the basic rate. The one exception is when a resident’s care is funded at a government-prescribed rate; in that case the effective date of the government rate change controls and no separate advance notice is needed.⁵

Medication Handling, Menus, and Personal Property

The plan should describe whether prescriptions will be centrally stored or kept by residents. Central storage is required when a medication needs refrigeration, when a physician determines it would be hazardous in the resident’s possession, or when the physical layout makes personal storage a safety risk. Centrally stored medications must be kept in a locked location accessible only to responsible staff, in the original containers, with a detailed log kept for at least one year showing the prescribing physician, drug name, strength, quantity, fill date, prescription number, pharmacy name, expiration date, and refill count.⁴

The sample menus must cover a full calendar week and show scheduled times for all meals and snacks. If the population includes residents with special dietary needs, the plan should explain how those needs will be met.

On personal property, the plan has to state whether the facility will handle residents’ money, belongings, or valuables at all. If it will, the plan describes how those items will be safeguarded.

Keeping the Plan Current After Approval

An approved Plan of Operation is not a filing you close the book on. The facility must operate in accordance with the plan at all times, and the licensing agency can cite the facility for deviating from it. When changes occur that affect resident services, the facility must get licensing agency approval and report the changes within 10 working days.⁶

Organizational changes such as a new chief executive officer, a change in the licensee’s mailing address, or any restructuring specified in Section 80034(a)(2) must be reported within the same 10-working-day window.

Separately from plan changes, certain incidents trigger their own reporting deadlines. The death of any resident, any injury requiring medical treatment, suspected physical or psychological abuse, epidemic outbreaks, poisonings, fires, explosions, and any unusual incident that threatens a resident’s physical or emotional health must be reported to the licensing agency by the next business day, with a written follow-up within seven days. Suspected physical abuse of an elder or dependent adult that results in serious bodily injury has a tighter clock: reports to the local ombudsman, the licensing agency, and local law enforcement within two hours.⁶

Where the Plan Fits in the Application Package

The Plan of Operation does not travel alone. It sits behind the LIC 200, the primary application form for a community care facility license, which serves as the cover sheet with supporting documents attached. Corporations, partnerships, public agencies, and LLCs also complete the LIC 309 described above.⁷

Health and Safety Code Section 1520 layers on prerequisites the plan alone will not satisfy. The applicant must show the ability to comply with all applicable statutes and regulations, reputable and responsible character (with criminal record clearance, employment history, and character references), and sufficient financial resources to maintain required standards. Where the applicant is an entity, that character evidence extends to its members, shareholders, and the person in charge of the facility. The applicant must also disclose any prior or current role as an administrator, general partner, corporate officer, or director of any community care facility or licensed health facility, and disclose any license revocations or disciplinary actions taken against those entities. The application includes a signed statement confirming the applicant has read and understood the statutes and regulations governing their facility category, and failure to cooperate with the licensing agency in completing the application results in denial.⁸

The completed packet goes to the Regional Office of the Community Care Licensing Division that covers the facility’s location, along with an application fee that scales with bed capacity. After the paper review, a licensing evaluator schedules a pre-licensing inspection to verify that the building and grounds match the sketches in the Plan of Operation, that safety codes are met, and that the facility is ready to operate the way the plan describes.

1
Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 22 – Plan of Operation
2
California Department of Social Services. LIC 309 Administrative Organization
3
California Department of Social Services. Adult Residential Facilities Manual of Policies and Procedures
4
California Department of Social Services. General Licensing Requirements
5
Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 22 – Admission Agreements
6
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. California Code of Regulations Title 22 – Section 80061 Reporting Requirements
7
California Department of Social Services. LIC 200 – Application for a Community Care Facility or Residential Care Facility for the Elderly License
8
California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 1520