Short stays
You are allowed to need two weeks off
People ring us about respite in two situations. Something is happening — a wedding, an operation, a trip that cannot move again. Or nothing is happening and they simply cannot do another month. Both are good reasons and we treat them the same.
The thing that catches people out
A fortnight takes the same paperwork as moving in for good
A short stay is still an admission, and California does not have a lighter version of it for two weeks. Before she can move in, the home has to carry out a pre-admission appraisal, and it needs a medical assessment completed by a doctor within the last year on form LIC 602A.
The room is almost never the problem. The doctor's appointment is. That signature cannot be hurried by the family, by the home, or by us — which is why “I'll put her somewhere next weekend” so often turns into a bad fortnight at home instead.
Give it about a week and it is easy. If you already know the date, start now.
Practically
What to ask, and in what order
The daily rate, not the monthly one
Respite is charged by the day and it usually costs more per day than a permanent place, because the home is turning the room over. Ask for the daily figure, the minimum stay, and whether a deposit comes back if your plans change.
Whether her needs are actually covered
If she uses a walker or wheelchair the home still needs its non-ambulatory approval, and if she is on hospice it still needs its waiver. Two weeks changes none of that. A home that brushes the question off for a short stay will brush it off for a long one.
What happens if she wants to stay
It happens more than families expect. Ask now what the permanent rate would be and whether the respite deposit counts toward it, while you still have the leverage of not having signed anything.
What happens if it goes badly
Ask how much notice ends a respite stay early and what is refunded. A straight answer here tells you a lot about how the home is run.
The part nobody says out loud
Most permanent placements start as a short stay
Not because anybody is being talked into anything. Because two weeks tells a family things that twenty tours cannot: whether the food is actually all right, whether somebody comes when she presses the button at two in the morning, whether she spends the afternoon with people or on her own.
And it gives her a say. A parent who has tried a place and formed her own view is in a completely different conversation from one being shown brochures.
So if you are using respite as a trial, say so to the home. Good ones will tell you honestly whether they think it would suit her, and that answer is worth having.
If you are not sure it is time at all, the signs that actually matter is the more useful page. And if money is the obstacle, what care really costs here.
Common questions
Respite, answered
- Can a care home take someone for just a week or two?
- Yes. Licensed residential care homes in Anaheim take short stays as well as permanent residents, and in a six-bed home it is often simply whichever room is free. What families do not expect is that a short stay is still an admission, so the paperwork is the same as for somebody moving in for good.
- How much notice do I need to arrange respite?
- Realistically about a week, and the constraint is almost never the room. Before anybody moves in, the home has to carry out a pre-admission appraisal under 22 CCR 87457, and it needs a medical assessment completed by a doctor within the last year on form LIC 602A under 87458. Getting a GP appointment and a signature is what takes the time, and nobody can hurry it. If you know you have a wedding, an operation or a holiday coming, start a fortnight out and it is straightforward.
- What does respite cost in Anaheim?
- It is normally charged as a daily rate rather than a monthly one, and the daily rate usually works out higher per day than a permanent placement, because the home is turning the room over. Ask for the daily rate, the minimum stay, and whether a deposit is refundable if your plans change — and get all three in writing before you commit.
- Will the same rules about her condition apply?
- Yes, and this is worth checking before you fall in love with a place. If she uses a walker or a wheelchair, the home still needs its non-ambulatory approval. If she is on hospice, it still needs its hospice waiver. A fortnight does not change any of that, and a home that waves the question away for a short stay is a home to be wary of for a long one.
- Is respite a reasonable way to try a home before committing?
- It is the best way there is, and a lot of permanent placements start exactly like this. You learn more from two weeks than from twenty tours: how the food actually is, whether anybody comes when she presses the call button at night, whether she is sitting with people or sitting alone. It also gives her a say in the decision, which matters more than most families expect.
Admission requirements read at source: 22 CCR 87457 (pre-admission appraisal) and 87458 (medical assessment within the last year, on form LIC 602A). General information for families, not legal or medical advice.
Every regulation quoted on this page is listed with a link to its full published text on California care home rules. Please check us rather than take our word for it.
Last reviewed . Figures are re-checked against their sources whenever this page is revised.
Tell us the dates and we will find the room
Even if it is only a fortnight, and even if you are not sure yet whether it is a trial. We will tell you which Anaheim homes take short stays, what they charge by the day, and what the doctor needs to sign.
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.