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Facility Compliance for Adult Care Homes

There are ways to find out if a facility is in compliance with state and federal rules and regulations.

The first step is to identify how the beds within the facility are licensed. Why? Because that determines which agency goes in to monitor compliance and how often. Most Adult Care Homes in North Carolina are licensed as adult care home beds. However, there are instances where they are licensed as nursing home beds. Typically, this is done because the beds are used for individuals who are likely to have their condition(s) escalate to nursing home levels of care. These beds are set aside for individuals with this likelihood. Typically, these adult care home beds are housed within a nursing home. Consequently, the monitoring of the nursing home includes the monitoring of the adult care home level of service beds by nursing home rules and regulations. So, ask. The facility can tell you (and the license should be posted in a conspicious location); your Ombudsman can tell you; and the NC Division of Health Service Regulation can tell you.

Check with your Ombudsman and/or the NC Division of Health Service Regulation for information on recent citations and complaints for a facility being considered.

The NC Division of Health Service Regulation lists adult care home penalties, with reasons for the penalty and the amount of the penalty on their website, for the entire state.

DHSR List of Adult Care Home Penalties

Durham County offers a wealth of useful information about Adult Care Homes within the county. They offer:

• a picture
• a map
• the name of the administrator
• who owns the facility
• facility information such as number of beds and payment options
• a link to the Community Advisory Committee Reports (see below)
• Compliance Information including:
  • complaints
  • corrective actions
  • negative sanctions

Durham Adult Care Home Information

If the facility is in Orange or Wake County, North Carolina, read the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) quarterly visit reports and/or minutes which describe what is found during unscheduled visits by CAC members.

Orange Quarterly Visit Reports *

Wake Quarterly Visit Reports **

*  Click on Departments/Aging/Committees/Adult Care Home/Listing.
** Click on the facility and scroll down to "Compliance Information".

Another place to find out information about how well a facility abides by federal, state, and local regulations is by seeing if the facility has been brought before the North Carolina Division of Health Service Regulation's Penalty Review Committee. This nine-member committee reviews administrative penalties charged against adult care homes and makes recommendations regarding penalties to the Division of Health Service Regulation.

A North Carolina state-wide advocacy group, Friends of Residents in Long-Term Care (FOR), also posts a listing of the Penalty Review Committee's findings. A link has been provided below.

FOR Penalty Review Committee Actions