EDUCATION: Adult Family Care Home Legal Requirements in Florida

Adult Family Care Homes are Agency for Health Care Administration (“AHCA” or Agency) licensed facilities that provide care to disabled adults and frail elders in a family-type living environment. These adults choose to live with an individual or a family in a private home. One key distinction between an Assisted Living Facility and an Adult Family Care Home (“AFCH”) is that the Provider must also live in the home, which can be owned or rented by that Provider. The home has to meet the local zoning requirements prior to obtaining the AHCA license. The intent behind the Adult Family Care Home Act is to allow for residents of AFCHs to remain as independent as possible and to avoid placement in a nursing home or other licensed facility. AFCH means a full-time, family-type living arrangement, in a private home, under which a person who owns or rents the home provides room, board, and personal care, on a 24-hour basis, for no more than five disabled adults or frail elders who are not relatives. Personal care services includes individual assistance with or supervision of the activities or daily living and the self-determination of medication, and other similar services. A resident who requires 24-hour nursing supervision may not be retained in an AFCH unless such resident is an enrolled hospice patient and the resident’s continued residency is mutually agreeable to the resident. Certain types of family-type living arrangements are not required to be licensed as an AFCH. Although no more than five adults may reside in the home, the licensed maximum capacity of each AFCH is based on the service needs of the residents and the capability of the provider to meet the needs of the residents. Any relative who lives in the adult family-care home and who is a disabled adult or frail elder must be included in that maximum resident count. Web: www.JonesHealthLaw.com Phone: (305)877-5054 Instagram: @JonesHealthLaw Facebook: @JonesHealthLaw Youtube: @JonesHealthLaw