You're looking at places for your mom or dad, and the words all run together. Personal care home. Assisted living. Memory care. Nursing home. Every brochure says "loving," "safe," and "like family."
Georgia keeps them apart. Each one is a different license or certificate with its own rules. Once you know what the license means, you can tell what a place is allowed to do, and you can check the license yourself in a few minutes.
Start with what she needs, not what's nearby
Before you tour anything, answer one question: what does she need help with right now, and what will she likely need in a year?
- Is she mostly fine, but the house, the meals, and the loneliness are too much?
- Does she need a hand with bathing, dressing, or remembering her pills?
- Is memory the main worry: getting lost, leaving the stove on, walking out at night?
- Does she need skilled nursing care every day, like wound care or help after a hospital stay?
A rough answer is enough to narrow the field. Her doctor can help with the medical side.
What is a personal care home in Georgia?
Georgia's rules describe a personal care home as a place that provides housing, food service, and one or more personal services for two or more adults who are not related to the owner. In plain terms, a place to live, meals, and help with daily routines like bathing, dressing, and getting around.
Many are small, licensed for a handful of residents. Some are a regular house on a regular street with everyone eating dinner at one table. Georgia's staffing rules treat homes with fewer than 25 beds differently from homes with 25 or more. One can suit a parent who does better with quiet and the same faces every day.
A personal care home is not a medical setting. Georgia's personal care home staffing rules don't require a nurse on staff unless the home runs a certified memory care center. Some homes have a nurse anyway. Ask.
One more rule: Georgia's rules say only a licensed assisted living community may hold itself out as offering assisted living care, and a facility's marketing must be consistent with its license. If a small home's website says "assisted living" but its license says personal care home, ask about it.
More in the Nov 2 letter: What is a personal care home in Georgia?
What is an assisted living community?
In Georgia, an assisted living community is a personal care home serving 25 residents or more that is licensed by the state to provide assisted living care. It's a separate license from a basic personal care home license.
Georgia's rules allow assisted living communities to give medications through a certified medication aide, help residents evacuate in an emergency (the rules call this assisted self-preservation), and provide limited nursing services.
A registered nurse or licensed practical nurse must be on site for a minimum number of hours each week, based on how many residents live there:
- 1 to 30 residents: at least 8 hours a week
- 31 to 60 residents: at least 16 hours a week
- 61 to 90 residents: at least 24 hours a week
- More than 90 residents: at least 40 hours a week
A nurse on site some hours a week is not a nurse around the clock. If she needs nursing care every day, assisted living may not be enough. Ask how many nurse hours the community actually has.
Assisted living tends to fit a parent who needs more structure, more staff, and help with medications, and who likes having activities and people around.
What is memory care?
In Georgia, "memory care" has rules behind it. Under state law, no assisted living community or personal care home may operate a memory care center without first getting a certificate from the state. The rules also cover places that advertise specialized dementia care or charge more for it.
That certificate comes with dementia-specific requirements. Among them: a written description of the program, including activities; secured outdoor space designed to prevent residents from leaving undetected; at least one dementia-trained direct care staff person for every 12 residents during waking hours and every 15 during nonwaking hours; and at least four hours of dementia-specific orientation for staff within their first 30 days.
Memory care centers have their own nurse rules. A registered nurse or licensed practical nurse must be on site for a set number of hours each week, based on the number of memory care residents: 8 hours for 1 to 12, 16 for 13 to 30, 24 for 31 to 40, and 40 for more than 40.
Memory care tends to fit when memory loss is the main concern: she gets lost, she may walk out without knowing the danger, or her behavior has changed in ways family can no longer safely handle at home. Not sure you're there yet? Read When is it time for memory care?
What is a nursing home?
A nursing home is a medical setting. Georgia licenses nursing homes under their own rules (Chapter 111-8-56), and homes that take Medicare or Medicaid must also meet federal requirements. The state's Healthcare Facility Regulation division does the federal certification inspections.
Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes must have licensed nurses on duty around the clock, with rare waivers, and a registered nurse on site at least 8 hours a day.
A nursing home tends to fit when she needs daily skilled care: after a hospital stay, with serious medical conditions, or when she needs more physical help than a personal care home or assisted living community can safely give. How a stay is paid for is a separate question. Talk with the hospital discharge planner, her doctor, or your Area Agency on Aging before you assume anything about coverage.
Side by side
| Personal care home | Assisted living community | Memory care | Nursing home | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Licensed home with housing, meals, and help with daily routines | Personal care home serving 25 or more, licensed for assisted living care | State-certified memory care center inside a personal care home or assisted living community | Licensed medical setting for skilled nursing care |
| Typical size | Often small and house-like | 25 residents or more | A secured unit or a whole building | Varies, often larger |
| Nurse on site | Not required, unless it runs a certified memory care center | Part time, at least 8 to 40 hours a week by resident count | Its own nurse-hour rules, part time by memory care resident count | Licensed nurses around the clock in certified homes, with rare waivers |
| Best fit when | She needs daily help in a quiet, home-like setting | She needs more structure, staff, and medication help | Memory loss is the main concern | She needs daily skilled medical care |
| Ask on the tour | Can I see your license and latest inspection report? | Who gives meds? How many nurse hours each week? | Can I see your memory care certificate? Who is here at night? What dementia training do staff have? | Can I see your latest inspection? What is nurse staffing on nights and weekends? |
| Who oversees it | Georgia DCH, Healthcare Facility Regulation | Georgia DCH, Healthcare Facility Regulation | Georgia DCH certificate | Georgia DCH license, plus federal certification if it takes Medicare or Medicaid |
A bigger license doesn't mean better care. The license tells you what a place is allowed to do. The tour, the inspection report, and your gut tell you how well they do it.
How to check a facility license in Georgia
You don't have to take anyone's word for it. Georgia's Department of Community Health (DCH) runs a free public tool called GaMap2Care.
- Go to DCH's GaMap2Care page and open the Facility Finder.
- Choose the facility type, such as Personal Care Home, Assisted Living Community, or Nursing Home. Then narrow it by city, county, or ZIP code, and search.
- Each result lists the facility type, bed capacity, and license effective date, along with the address, phone, and administrator.
- To look up one place by name, use Verify a License and search by the facility's name or address.
- For memory care, the finder doesn't show the certificate. Ask the facility to show you its memory care certificate.
- Compare what you see to what the place told you. Does the license type match their website? Does the bed count match the tour?
Inspection reports matter too. Ask the facility for its most recent inspection report, or look for "Search Inspection Reports" on DCH's Healthcare Facility Regulation page. If you can't find what you need, call DCH and ask. For nursing homes, you can also look at Medicare's Care Compare.
Don't expect a perfect report. Most places have something. Look for patterns: the same problem year after year, anything about medication errors, falls, or residents left without help, and how quickly the facility fixed what was found.
If something doesn't add up, ask the director. A good place will answer plainly. If you're worried about care at a facility, you can call Georgia's Long-Term Care Ombudsman at 1-866-552-4464 and select option 5. You can also file a complaint online with DCH or call its Complaint Intake Unit at 1-800-878-6442.
FAQ
What is a personal care home in Georgia?
It's a state-licensed home that provides housing, meals, and help with daily activities for two or more adults who aren't related to the owner. Many are small and feel like a family home. Most don't have to have a nurse on staff.
What are the personal care home Georgia regulations?
Personal care homes follow their own set of state rules, Chapter 111-8-62, overseen by DCH's Healthcare Facility Regulation division. Assisted living communities follow a separate chapter, 111-8-63. You don't need to read the rules. A home's inspection report shows how it measures up to them.
How do I check a facility license in Georgia?
Use GaMap2Care on the DCH website. The Facility Finder lets you search by type and location, and Verify a License lets you look up one place by name or address. Then ask the facility for its latest inspection report.
Is a personal care home the same as assisted living?
No. An assisted living community is a personal care home serving 25 residents or more that holds an additional license for assisted living care. Only that license allows a place to say it offers assisted living care.
Who pays for a personal care home or assisted living?
That depends on her income, assets, insurance, and benefits, and the rules are specific. We won't guess for your family. Your Area Agency on Aging can walk you through options, including Georgia's Medicaid waiver, EDWP (formerly CCSP). Call the statewide line at 1-866-552-4464. In metro Atlanta, Empowerline is at (404) 463-3333.
Your next step
You don't have to settle this in one weekend. Pick the type that fits what she needs now, then look at a few places near you.
Browse personal care homes, assisted living, memory care, and nursing homes in the Enjoy directory. You can filter by type: personal care homes, assisted living, memory care, or nursing homes. Then look each one up on GaMap2Care before you visit.
If you'd like a steady hand through the rest of this, get the Enjoy letter. One short, practical note at a time.
Sources
- Georgia DCH, Personal Care Homes Rules 111-8-62 (2025 final adoption). https://dch.georgia.gov/document/document/personal-care-homes-rules-111-8-62-rules-final-adoption/download
- Georgia DCH, Assisted Living Communities Rules 111-8-63 (2025 final adoption). https://dch.georgia.gov/document/document/assisted-living-communities-111-8-63-rules-final-adoption/download
- Georgia DCH, Assisted Living Communities 111-8-63, final adoption and signed public notice (April 10, 2025). https://dch.georgia.gov/document/document/assisted-living-communities-111-8-63-rules-final-adoption-and-signed-public/download
- Georgia DCH, Personal Care Homes. https://dch.georgia.gov/divisionsoffices/hfrd/facilities-provider-information/personal-care-homes
- Georgia DCH, Healthcare Facility Regulation. https://dch.georgia.gov/divisionsoffices/hfrd
- Georgia DCH, Facility Licensure. https://dch.georgia.gov/facility-licensure
- Georgia DCH, GaMap2Care. https://dch.georgia.gov/gamap2carer-find-facility
- Georgia DCH, Verify a License. https://forms.dch.georgia.gov/hfrd/Verify_License.html
- Georgia DCH, File a Complaint. https://dch.georgia.gov/divisionsoffices/healthcare-facility-regulation/facility-licensure/hfr-file-complaint
- O.C.G.A. 31-7-12.4, Memory care centers (Justia, 2025 Georgia Code). https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-31/chapter-7/article-1/section-31-7-12-4/
- 42 CFR 483.35, Nursing services (eCFR). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/chapter-IV/subchapter-G/part-483/subpart-B/section-483.35
- CMS, Nursing homes certification and compliance. https://www.cms.gov/medicare/health-safety-standards/certification-compliance/nursing-homes
- Medicare Care Compare. https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/
- Georgia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. https://aging.georgia.gov/programs-and-services/long-term-care-ombudsman-program
- Georgia Division of Aging Services. https://aging.georgia.gov/
- Apply for the Elderly and Disabled Waiver Program (georgia.gov). https://georgia.gov/apply-elderly-and-disabled-waiver-program
- Empowerline. https://empowerline.org/