ALW Services

To be eligibleÂto receive services as an ALW Participant, an individual must meet the following ALW eligibility criteria:

Age 21 or older;

Have full-scope Medi-Cal eligibility with zero share of cost;

Have care needs equal to those of Medi-Cal-funded residents living and receiving care in nursing facilities;

Willing to live in an assisted living setting as an alternative to a nursing facility;

Able to reside safely in an assisted living facility or public subsidized housing;

Willing to live in an assisted living setting located in one of the following counties providing ALW services: Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Sonoma counties.

​​ALW is limited to individuals eligible for Medi-Cal, without a Medi-Cal share of cost, who require a nursing facility level of care and wish to live in a residential care setting or in publicly funded senior and/or disabled housing. ALW participants must have sufficient funds to pay for their room and board, with some funds remaining to meet personal and incidental needs. In determining Medi-Cal eligibility for individuals who are applying for enrollment into ALW, institutional and spousal impoverishment prevention rules are applied.

The goals of the ALW are to:

1) facilitate a safe and timely transition of Medi-Cal-eligible seniors and persons with disabilities from a nursing facility to a community home-like setting in a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE), an Adult Residential Care Facility (ARF), or subsidized public housing, utilizing ALW services; and

2) offer eligible seniors and persons with disabilities, who reside in the community, but are at risk of being institutionalized, the option of utilizing ALW services to develop a program that will safely meet his/her care needs while continuing to reside in a RCF, ARF, or public subsidized housing.