How Florida licenses assisted living facilities

What license does an assisted living facility need in Florida?

Every assisted living facility (ALF) in Florida must hold a license from the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) under Part I of Chapter 429, Florida Statutes, and the license must state which categories of care it covers: standard, extended congregate care (ECC), limited nursing services (LNS), limited mental health (LMH) or memory care services.

A separate license is needed for each separate premises, even under one operator, but several buildings on one campus can share a license (s. 429.07(2), F.S.). Licenses run for two years, and AHCA's general licensing law in Part II of Chapter 408 governs renewals, changes of ownership and inspections. The operating rules sit in Florida Administrative Code chapter 59A-36.

In Sarasota and Manatee counties AHCA's records show 128 licensed ALFs with 8,783 licensed beds; 30 hold a limited nursing services license, 12 extended congregate care and 6 limited mental health, and 63 list a memory care program on their AHCA profile (data retrieved October 31, 2026).

What does a standard ALF license in Florida allow?

A standard license covers housing, meals and one or more personal services, such as help with bathing, dressing, eating, walking and taking medication, plus supervision; the facility may also employ or contract with a licensed nurse to administer medications and perform the limited tasks listed in s. 429.255.

What a standard-licensed facility may not do is deliver ongoing nursing care with its own staff. A resident who needs a stage 2 pressure sore dressed, for example, contracts directly with a licensed home health agency or nurse. Rule 59A-36.006 lists who can be admitted: residents must be able to transfer (with help if necessary), must not be bedridden unless on hospice, and must not need 24-hour nursing supervision.

What is extended congregate care (ECC) in a Florida ALF?

Extended congregate care is a specialty license that lets an ALF provide nursing and supportive services beyond the standard scope so residents can age in place; only a facility licensed as an ALF for at least two years without serious sanctions can get it, and the first ECC license is provisional for up to six months.

ECC facilities adopt their own continued-residency criteria within AHCA's guidelines, but still may not keep a resident who needs 24-hour nursing supervision. A registered nurse from AHCA, or a contracted agency, visits at least twice a year to monitor ECC residents, although one visit can be waived after 24 months with a clean record (s. 429.07(3)(b), F.S.). The designation can cover the whole building or only part of it, which is why an ECC facility may tell you a specific wing has the beds.

What do limited nursing services (LNS) and limited mental health (LMH) licenses add?

An LNS license lets the ALF's own licensed nurses perform a defined set of nursing tasks for residents who still meet standard admission criteria, with at least an annual AHCA nurse monitoring visit; an LMH license is required for any ALF that serves one or more residents with a serious mental illness who receive optional state supplementation.

LMH facilities must have each mental health resident's community living support plan and cooperative agreement on file, and the administrator and direct-care staff must finish at least six hours of mental health training within six months (s. 429.075, F.S.). Neither license is a quality grade: it describes what services may be delivered on site.

What is Florida's new memory care services license?

Chapter 2026-102, Laws of Florida, created s. 429.076: an assisted living facility that serves memory care residents, or advertises memory care, dementia care or Alzheimer's care, must obtain a memory care services license once AHCA adopts its rules, which are due by June 1, 2027; facilities already licensed then get six months to apply.

The rules must set admission criteria, minimum services and activities, staff training at or above the dementia training required by s. 430.5025, physical plant standards, contract terms and at least one awake staff member at all hours. Until they take effect, the older standard in s. 429.178 still applies to ALFs that advertise special Alzheimer's care: an awake staff member at all hours in facilities with 17 or more residents, dementia-specific activities, a safe environment and trained staff. s. 429.178 is repealed once the new rules are adopted. See the memory care license explained.