Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) offer persons 60 years of age or older a long term continuing care contract that provides for independent living units, residential care/assisted living services, and skilled nursing care, usually in one location, and usually for a resident’s lifetime. Most CCRCs require a substantial entrance fee (e.g., from a low of $100,000 to over a million) to be paid by the applicant upon admission.

Continuing Care Retirement Communities: Is One Right for You? (2009) is a 14- page consumer’s guide that provides essential information to make an informed decision regarding whether a Continuing Care Retirement Community is right for you. It includes a 4-page personal questionnaire insert, Points to Consider for CCRC Consumers, to aid in your decision-making. Click here for a free copy of the Guide and the insert, Points to Consider for CCRC Consumers.

The California Department of Social Services, Continuing Care Contracts Branch, regulates CCRCs, and maintains a website with general information on CCRCs (http://www.calccrc.ca.gov/):

• Listing of all CCRCs in California (pdf) includes information on applications pending for new communities, plans for expansion and remodeling, for-profit providers, and life care contracts.
• A map listing CCRCs by county of location.
• Listing of the provider’s non–profit or for profit status (pdf).

The law governing CCRCs is contained in the California Health and Safety Code, Chapter 10 of Division 2, Sections 1770 and following. Click here for a copy of the most recent statute.

• CCRC Resident Rights : Outlines the most critical rights for CCRC residents and cites the pertinent sections of the California statute.
• Exercising Your Rights & Resolving Problems in CCRCs : Explores self-advocacy options from working with administration to forming independent resident associations and family councils.
• Filing a Complaint Against CCRCs : Explains where to file complaints depending upon the nature of the problem and at what level of care the problem occurred.

• CCRC Legislation from 2006 to present.
• Major reports, legal resources, and relevant articles concerning CCRCs.
• CCRC Corner – Compilation of articles on CCRCs from a consumer perspective written by Professor Lillian L. Hyatt, MSW, and CCRC resident, that have appeared in the CANHR newsletter, The Advocate. Articles are grouped by the following categories:About CCRCs;Resident Rights; and Oversight & Enforcement.
• California Continuing Care Residents Association (CALCRA) is the only independent voice for over 20,000 residents in California's Continuing Care Retirement Communities.