You didn’t plan to become the senior living expert. You just wanted her to be safe.
Georgia licenses personal care homes and assisted living through the Department of Community Health, specifically its Healthcare Facility Regulation Division (HFRD). The reports are public. They’re also dense. Here’s the plain version.
1. Look the place up on the state’s site
Start here: Georgia DCH facility search (forms.dch.georgia.gov)
Search the community name. Open the latest inspection or survey PDF, and any plan of correction filed with it.
On Enjoy, we put that same record on the profile when we can match it. If a listing says “none on file,” that isn’t a clean bill of health. It means we don’t have a linked state survey yet. Treat it as incomplete, not perfect.
2. What actually matters in the PDF
You don’t need to memorize every code. Read for:
- When the survey happened. A recent routine survey beats an old one, or none at all.
- What was cited. The deficiencies, in plain language where the PDF gives it.
- Whether they fixed it. Look for the plan of correction, and which items cleared.
State rules say a copy of the most recent inspection report and plan of correction must be displayed in the home, somewhere the home normally puts information for residents and visitors. If the home keeps a website, it also has to post a link to every report and plan of correction from the previous 18 months. If staff can’t show you either, that’s useful information.
3. On the tour, three questions
- When was your last routine state survey?
- Were there deficiencies, and were they cleared?
- Can I see the report you post for families?
You’re allowed to ask. A steady operator expects it.
4. Why this matters right now
A June 2025 state audit (DOAA Report 24-05) looked at Georgia’s Personal Care Home Program, which covers personal care homes, assisted living communities, and community living arrangements. Of the 2,540 active facilities due for a routine inspection, 43% had none at all between January 2019 and November 2024.
Public tools are mostly PDFs, not scorecards. That’s why we show the state record on Enjoy listings when it matches, and why we won’t pretend every profile has one yet.
Read the full audit (audits.ga.gov)
5. What to do this week
- Run the Care Check. Seven questions, two minutes.
- Shortlist two or three places near her in the directory.
- Pull each survey on DCH HFRD before you tour.
- On the tour, ask the three questions above.
Not sure what the numbers should look like? The cost calculator builds a monthly figure out of what north Atlanta communities actually publish, not a national average.
If something feels off, trust that. You know her.
If you need to report a concern
DCH complaint intake is 1-800-878-6442, or you can file a complaint online.
Questions families ask
Does “none on file” on Enjoy mean the home is fine? No. It means we haven’t matched a Georgia survey to that listing yet, or one isn’t in our data. Check DCH yourself before you decide.
Can a community pay to hide an inspection on Enjoy? No. Paying never buys a better Enjoy Score or softer coverage. We publish how we make money in full.
What’s an Enjoy Score? It blends the Georgia inspection record with family reviews. We only publish a score once a community has at least eight reviews, so one bad week can’t sink a good home.
Sources
- Georgia DCH, Healthcare Facility Regulation Division: facility search
- Georgia Rule 111-8-62-.11(4), Home Accountability and Inspections
- Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts, Performance Audit Report 24-05, June 2025