Washington Assisted Living

SeniorLiving FAQ

By David Besnette


In this research guide you will learn how to get a COMPLETE, non-commercial, Statewide list of Assisted Living & Senior Living Facilities Provided by the State of Washington.

To begin, one of the very best ways you can research Assisted Living Facilities in Washington State is by reading each facility’s inspections & complaints reports. 

We show you how here:

Washington’s Safest Facilities:


Safe Facilities

Researching assisted living facilities in Washington State could not be easier, or safer – if you know where to look.  As we all know, researching Senior Care online can be a hit-or-miss activity, and often times, sites we land on offer questionable content, sourced from questionable places.   The intent of most commercial sites is to make money – not to steer you to the best information.

Here, you will discover access to ALL assisted Living and adult family homes Statewide in Washington, provided through trustworthy State sources.

Your output list will provide a great deal of information, and will look something like this:

Facility List example for Washington

Washington Residents:


Availability

In this guide you will learn about:

  • The State of Washington’s Adult Family Home Locator
  • How Washington Defines Assisted Living and other categories of Care
  • How To Find Senior Living Facilities that Accept Medicaid
  • How to search by County, City, Zip Code or License Number
  • Search for facilities specializing in Specific Criteria and Conditions such as Dementia, Mental Health Developmental Disabilities, and more.
  • View Inspections, Complaints and Investigations Reports for Senior Living Facilities

Additionally, you will be able to SAVE FACILITY DATA in printer-friendly format, or save them in a spreadsheet (Excel) or CSV file.

How Washington Defines Assisted Living

The State of Washington provides a very useful document available for download that provides a great, factual overview of Assisted Living Facilities, Programs and Initiatives in Washington.

The document offers the following definition for Assisted Living Facilities, Adult Residential Care (ARC) Facilities, and Enhanced Adult Residential Care (EARC) Facilities in Washington.

Definitions

How To Find Assisted Living Facilities and Adult Family Homes in Washington State

The State of Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services, and their Aging and Long-Term Support Administration offers an OUTSTANDING Adult Family Home and Assisted Locator tool that is free and available to the public.   You’ll be able to bypass the typical commercial senior care site, and get ad-free information immediately.

The site will look like this:

Locator for Washington

or

Assisted Living Facility Locator Washington

How simple is that?

  1. Visit the Adult Family Home Locator or the Assisted Living Facility Locator on the Aging and Long Term Support Administration Site.
  2. Select “Search By” and then the Location, or Facility Name, and the Only Facilities that accept Medicaid box, if you want.
  3. Hit Search

From there, your list of facilities will be displayed like this:

List Results

You’ll notice that the search results provide the following information:

  • Facility Name
  • Facility Contact and Direct Phone Number
  • Whether the Facility accepts Medicaid
  • A Directions link that provides a map to the facility.
  • A link to any reports about the facility, including inspections, complaints and investigations

Learn About Facility Complaints, Inspections and Investigations

This is such an incredibly useful feature to the Assisted Living Facility Locator tool.   You have direct access to any complaints, inspections and investigations reports filed for each facility.

For example, in the list of facilities above, Rose Garden Estates has a number of reports – enforcement letters and inspections and investigations.

Inspections Summary

Selecting any the reports will bring you to a detailed (usually .pdf) document detailing the inspection or investigation.  For this example, we chose the ‘Enforcement Letter’ which included an Imposition of Civil Fines to the facility based on a number of Violations.

Civil Fines

The types of reports conducted include:

  • Inspections – Conducted at least every 18 months to review facility compliance with applicable rules and regulations and resident safety
  • Investigations – In response to reported concerns, the department checks to ensure the facility is in compliance with applicable rules and regulations
  • Enforcement Actions – Letters summarizing action taken by the Department to compel a return to compliance
  • Fire Inspections – Conducted by the State Fire Marshal upon initial licensing, complaint or on an annual basis

See Definition of Terms used in these reports.

Alternative Facility Search Method

You may use the DSHS site’s Advanced ALF Search tool to further refine your facility search.    The Advanced page will look like this:

Advanced ALF Search

The great thing about the advanced search is that it lists all of the counties in Washington State that can be checked for your search.  You can also select the “City” field and enter up to 5 cities for your search.   The same goes for Zip Codes, and Facility License Numbers.

Cities Field

Lastly, with the advanced search function, you can filter your results by Specific Criteria.   

Choices include:

  • Assisted Living
  • Adult Residential Care
  • Enhanced Adult Residential Care
  • Expanded Community Services
  • Dementia Care
  • No Contract (Facility Cannot Accept Medicaid)
  • Bed Count
A Note About Bed Count

I find that this is an especially useful feature, as you can filter your results based on facility size. In my time filming facility video tours, and interviewing facility owners and residents, facility size is a major consideration.  Some people prefer the more intimate, Bed and Breakfast feel for a facility – usually under 6 residents.   

Bed Count

Others like the larger, more hotel-like feel for a facility, often times housing more than 100 residents.    There are some facilities that number over 1000 residents.  These facilities often times provide more amenities, services, healthcare, and social opportunities to residents.

To get an idea of what the benefits of a smaller assisted living home may be, we recommend watching the following video:

The advanced search, and it’s bed-count feature is very unique and really allows for a customizable search experience through the State’s data on Assisted Living Facilities and Adult Family Homes.

Additional Resources
  1. Learn More About Assisted Living Facilities with this informative document provided by the Aging and Long-Term Support Administration.
  2.  Washington Health Care Association also offers a “Find a Facility” locator and map for the entire state.
  3. Long-Term Care Residential Options – A great overview page for Nursing Homes, Adult Family Homes, Assisted Living Facilities, Retirement Communities, Independent Living Facilities and Continuing Care Retirement Communities.   This data is provided by the State Department of Social and Health Services.
Washington Residents:


Availability

2 thoughts on “Washington Assisted Living

  1. Pingback: How To Find Medicaid Assisted Living Facilities in Washington State - SeniorLiving FAQ

  2. simona klein

    I am living in what is described as independent living at Franke, Tobey, Jones (Tacoma)

    This is an outright lie since my unit was designed to be an ADA unit and it is possible that other units in this new building (Bristol View) are ADA. There are people liv ing here that have caretakers, & use walkers. Although not an attorney, I believe that the classification is simply to save money/taxes or to get away with whatever management can.

    The building and it’s entrances are literal death traps. There is virtually no communication from the garage and faulty communication from the entrance lobby. You are unable to contact the front desk or security. The lighting is non existent in the front. You have to be very careful when exiting because there is no direct pathway to their “sidewalks” – There is The crosswalk is often blocked by trucks or buses and not identifiable. I could not reach the front desk this evening to help the son of a resident in the garden apartment. It was about 7:30 p.m.

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