Timing
The bed is rarely what you are waiting for
Every other page answers this with “a few weeks to several months” and names no document. Here is the actual answer for California: two things must exist before somebody moves in, two more are allowed to happen afterwards, and the one that usually causes the delay is a doctor's signature.
Must exist before admission
These two gate the date
- A written pre-admission appraisal
- 22 CCR 87457. The community interviews the person and, where there is one, their responsible person, then writes an appraisal comparing their needs against what it is permitted to accept. It covers functional capabilities, mental condition and social factors. This can happen the same day, and often does.
- A medical assessment, on form LIC 602A
- 22 CCR 87458. Signed by a licensed medical professional, made within the last year, and covering tuberculosis and other communicable disease results, current medications, physical limitations and whether the person is ambulatory. This is the long pole.
Allowed to happen afterwards
These two do not delay the move
- The admission agreement
- 22 CCR 87507(c) requires it to be signed and dated by both sides no later than seven days following admission. Families routinely assume this has to be done first. It does not. It must be in at least 12-point black type on plain white paper, and you get a signed copy immediately on signing.
- The care planning meeting
- 22 CCR 87467(a) requires a meeting either before admission or within two weeks of it, with the resident, their representative, facility staff and any home health representative, producing a written record of the care to be given. Either side of the move is compliant.
So what is realistic?
If the medical assessment already exists and is less than a year old — which is often true for somebody coming out of hospital or rehab — a move can happen within a day or two, limited only by finding the right home and the practicalities of moving somebody.
If it does not exist, the clock is your doctor's clock. Getting a GP appointment, getting the form completed and getting it signed is the step that turns a two-day move into a two-week one. Nobody in this process can speed that up, and any service telling you otherwise is selling something.
So the single most useful thing a family can do on day one is not to tour homes. It is to ring the doctor's office and start the LIC 602A.
The six-month tuberculosis myth
You will be told, more than once, that a tuberculosis test must be within the past six months. For a resident that is not the rule. The medical assessment that contains the tuberculosis results must have been made within the last year. The six-month window in these regulations applies to facility personnel, including the licensee and administrator — not to the person moving in.
It matters because a family told the wrong rule books an unnecessary appointment and loses a week.
Why availability is rarely the problem here
California licenses 97 residential care homes inside Anaheim, with 2,241 licensed beds between them, and 83 of those homes are six-bed houses where a single vacancy comes up often. Across a market that shape, something is usually open this week.
What is genuinely scarce is the right home — one that can take the level of care, is in the right part of town, and is somewhere you would leave your mother. That is a different search from "who has a bed", and it is the one we do.
If the clock is already running
Do these three things today, in this order
- 1Ring the doctor and ask for the LIC 602A medical assessment to be completed. Say it is for admission to a residential care facility for the elderly. This starts the only clock you cannot control.
- 2Find out whether an assessment already exists and how old it is. Anyone discharged from hospital or rehab in the past year may already have what is needed.
- 3Only then start looking at homes — and expect the appraisal to be same-day once you do.
If this is a hospital discharge, the discharge page sets out the rest of the order, including the Medicare rule that catches families out. If it is urgent, call us.
Common questions
Timing, answered
- How long does it take to move into assisted living in California?
- Days rather than weeks, if the medical paperwork is already in hand. The things a community must have before admission are a written pre-admission appraisal it carries out itself, and documentation of a medical assessment signed by a licensed medical professional and made within the last year. The appraisal can happen the same day. The medical assessment depends on a doctor.
- What paperwork is needed before someone moves into a care home?
- Two items gate the move. The community must complete a written pre-admission appraisal under 22 CCR 87457, comparing the person's needs against what it is allowed to accept. And it must obtain documentation of a medical assessment made within the last year, on California's form LIC 602A, covering tuberculosis and other communicable disease results, medications, physical limitations and ambulatory status.
- Does the admission agreement have to be signed before moving in?
- No, and this surprises families. Under 22 CCR 87507(c) the admission agreement must be signed and dated by both sides no later than seven days following admission. It is not a gate on the move-in date. It must be printed in at least 12-point black type on plain white paper, and you must be handed a signed copy immediately on signing.
- Is there a six-month tuberculosis rule for residents?
- No. That is a common misunderstanding. The resident's medical assessment, which includes tuberculosis results, must have been made within the last year. The six-month window in these regulations applies to facility staff, not residents.
- What slows a move-in down most often?
- Getting a doctor to complete and sign the medical assessment. In Anaheim the bed is rarely the binding constraint — the state licenses 97 care homes in the city — but a GP appointment and a signature cannot be hurried by the family or the community.
Regulation citations were read at source. California renamed and amended several of these sections with effect from 1 January 2025, so older summaries elsewhere may not match. This is general information for families, not legal advice.
Last reviewed . Regulation citations are re-read at source whenever this page is revised.
Tell us the date you are working to
We will tell you honestly whether it is achievable, what has to happen first, and which homes could take her in that window. If the date is not realistic we will say so rather than let you find out late.
Tell us who you are looking after
Four short questions. Nothing you answer is shared with a facility until you say so.
Prefer to talk now? (714) 975-9652, open every day until 6pm.