Adult Foster Care is a type of State License for a residential home or assisted living facility where care services are provided 24 hours per day, 7 days a week for adults and seniors who can no longer live independently. The staff helps provide Foster care for adults with disabilities by helping them with medication management, personal care, supervision, and providing enriching activities.

When your loved one can no longer live independently, a Licensed adult foster home provider is a good option. Adult Residential Homes  or a Residential Assisted Living Facility  provide care services 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. The Adult Foster Care System Specialist helps with daily needs such as medication management, personal care, supervision, and providing enriching activities.

 An owner can make a living providing senior care or care for individuals with limitations if it is structured properly. An adult foster care system specialist or assisted living consultant will teach residential care facilities management techniques to provide income to make a living.

The most reliable source of Adult Foster Care caregivers to work in Adult Foster Care homes is referrals from existing reliable employees with a strong work ethic. Offer incentives to these individuals for referring their friends to work at the residential assisted living AFC home. Network with friends of friends who can connect you with someone with traits of a caregiver that may be  interested in caring for seniors and adults in an AFC.

Care Provider Solutions provides adult foster care home business consulting. Care Provider Solutions  is based out of Grand Rapids, MI. They provide management consulting to licensed adult foster home AFC owners and operators of licensed Adult Foster Care homes and assisted living facilities across the State of Michigan.

 In order to prepare for a successful audit at an adult foster care AFC licensed home, record regular monthly checks. These include refrigerator temperatures, client weights, and fire drills to name a few. An AFC business consultant like Care Provider Solutions can guide an Adult Foster Care Home Provider owner on additional categories to track for a successful audit.

 In order to open an Adult Foster Care facility to provide senior care or care to adults that cannot live independently, it is important to understand the regulations and rules set by the State of Michigan first. Read the required licensing rules for Adult Foster Care Group Homes for the State of Michigan and determine whether opening an AFC home is right for you. Next secure a property lease or buy property and create a company name with an EIN number. Complete and submit your online application for your  Adult Foster Home License  with fee payment to the State of Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to start the process.

To fill open beds in an adult foster care community, join or attend networking meetings offered in the community that serve your population such as Council on Aging. Contact the Probate Court Guardian Monitor in your county to notify public guardians of openings in your AFC facility. Contact referral agencies to place residents in your home. If you have a specialized AFC license, establish a contract with your local Community of Mental Health to provide foster care for adults with disabilities with a daily rate..

Use Form BCAL-4607 to record an incident at an adult foster care facility. Only include the facts of an incident. Do not include perceptions of what happened. Fill out each field and forward to the Licensing Consultant assigned to the Adult Foster Care home.

Complete an AFC incident report BCAL-4607 within 48 hours of an incident occurring in the following circumstances; a resident dies, hospitalization of an adult foster care resident, displays of serious hostility in the home, attempts at self-inflicted harm or harm to others, instances of destruction to property, and incidents that involve the arrest or conviction.

Adult Foster Care is a type of license given to the Licensee Designee of the home to provide 24 hour care to adults and seniors that can no longer live independently. The AFC license gives the licensee designee the authority to provide non medical care services such as med management, bathing, dressing and other activities of daily living in a residential home or assisted living facility. A group home is a term used to identify a residential location where non medical care services are provided to adults and seniors that can no longer live independently. Like an AFC these care services are provided to adults such as the aged, and/or individuals that are developmentally disabled or mentally ill.

Foster care for adults is a service provided by an Adult Foster Care facility for adults and seniors over the age of 18. Services at Group Homes for Disabled Adults included non-medical care such as meal prep, medication management, assistance or prompts to bathe, dress, shave, help with ambulation and others. These AFC home services are provided in a residential neighborhood home. Sometimes, the foster care for adults  is classified as Assisted Living, Senior Care, Senior Living, foster care for adults with disabilities or residential assisted living.

In order to run your adult foster care home business well there are 10 steps to make it successful.

1. Determine your mission and the population you will serve in the AFC facility.

2. Hire caregivers with a heart and passion to provide senior care, foster care with adults with disabilities or mental illness.

3. Use systems to onboard AFC staff easily and create a strong staff training and retention program.

4. Calculate the minimum to charge to cover the overhead of the facility as well as profit to stay open long term and provide a living for the staff and owner. 

5. Know how to assess resident’s in an AFC care needs and how to present them for proper funding.

6. Have systems in place to complete Licensing required checks on a weekly and monthly time frame for successful and less stressful audits.

7. Screen residents carefully to ensure they meet the AFC admission policy, meet the skill set of the staff and their funding matches their care needs.

8. Create a binders with AFC licensing documents and medical history for each resident for easy access to critical resident information

9. Conduct monthly success checkups to check the categories Licensing will audit and monitor.

10. Use programs to record medications, resident history, and contact information. For multiple facilities use programs to onboard staff easily, track trainings and process payroll.

Setting a routine at your adult foster care home can reduce behaviors of residents, enrich their lives and reduce the stress of the staff. Create a routine at the residential care facility based on the needs of the residents. Use their scheduled doctor appointments and home to dos including meal times as a starting point. Look at the downtime between these events to set the home schedule to complete the resident’s activities of daily living and enjoy community activities or in house activities.

 In order to determine if a licensed adult foster care, assisted living, senior care provider, foster care for adults with disabilities or a residential assisted living home is a good fit, check an adult foster care’s history of licensing inspections and citations on the State of Michigan AFC Licensing lookup tool. Second, visit the facility you are considering. Observe the attitude of the staff and the residents that live there. Does the staff seem engaged? Do they know their residents well? Are the residents clean and content? Is the facility organized and clean? Ask how doctor and other appointments are coordinated as well as transportation. Ask questions to determine if the AFC staff is skilled and trained to meet your loved ones needs. What are the staff’s coping and redirecting skills when they receive resistance or objection to care. Does the facility have routines in place and enriching activities they provide? Lastly, determine how the facility communicates information about your loved one? Confirm all the information gathered meets the needs of your loved one.

1. The difference between a licensed AFC family home and a licensed AFC group home is the structure. A family home is created using an individual’s name and social security number. A group home must form a corporation/LLC through the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs AND obtain a Federal Identification Number from the Internal Revenue Service. Both types of homes provide senior care, foster care for adults with disabilities, elderly care or care for adults with mental illness for up to 6 residents. 

1. To start an adult foster care home care business, determine the population you will serve and the admission criteria of the residents. Determine the structure of the business and whether it will open as a family home or group home. Understand the regulations and rules set by the State of Michigan first. Second,  determine whether owning an AFC is right for you. Next secure a property lease or buy property and create a company name with an EIN number for a group home. Complete and submit your online application with fee payment to the State of Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to start the process.