Washington adult family home license: six beds, a live-in manager and DSHS approval

Two to six residents, and who counts toward the cap

Washington law defines an adult family home as a residential home where one or more people provide personal care, special care, room and board to more than one but not more than six adults who are not related to them by blood or marriage. The home can serve up to eight adults if DSHS approves it under RCW 70.128.066.⁠¹ The rule puts it plainly: no person or entity may provide personal care, special care, and room and board for more than one resident without a license.⁠² Taking in one unrelated adult does not trigger licensing. Taking in a second does.

“Capacity” in the statute is the most people needing personal or special care who can be in the home at one time. It includes related children or adults who live there and receive special care.⁠¹ When DSHS sets your licensed number, it looks at the house’s structural design, how many bathrooms there are and how accessible they are, your staff, every household member who needs care, anyone you serve as an adult day client, and whether everyone can be evacuated safely.⁠² So if your father lives with you and needs care, a six-bed home may have fewer than six beds for paying residents. The number can change if your household changes.⁠²

The provider can be an individual, partnership, corporation, association or LLC.⁠¹ Married couples and state-registered domestic partners cannot hold separate licenses. They can apply jointly as coproviders if both qualify, or one spouse can apply alone.⁠¹⁠²

Operating without a license is a misdemeanor, and each day the violation continues after a conviction is a separate offense. DSHS can also go to court for an injunction or civil penalty. The legislature has declared unlicensed operation an unfair or deceptive act under the Consumer Protection Act.⁠¹

Neighbouring licenses and exemptions

• Seven or more residents from the start means an assisted living facility license, which covers seven or more residents.⁠¹¹ An adult family home only reaches seven or eight beds through the capacity-increase route described below. DSHS may deny an AFH license for a building that is already licensed as an assisted living facility.⁠²
• Care in clients’ own homes is not an adult family home. That is the Department of Health’s in-home services license, either home care or home health.
• Exempt settings include nursing homes, licensed assisted living facilities, hospitals, residential treatment centers, licensed homes for people with developmental disabilities, and VA medical foster homes caring exclusively for three or fewer veterans. Also exempt are certain long-time foster parents who keep providing personal care to the former foster youth they raised.⁠¹
• Child care in the same home can be grounds for denial, unless it lets a resident’s own child live with them or lets a resident who turns 18 stay.⁠²

Who can be the provider

Under WAC 388-76-10130, the provider (or the entity representative, for a company) and every resident manager must:⁠²

• be at least 21;
• hold a US high school diploma or equivalency certificate, or one of the listed foreign or college credentials (for example, 12,000 hours of foreign schooling, a two-year degree, college credit, or passing the US registered nurse board exam);
• be literate and able to communicate in English, and make sure someone on staff can handle emergencies and read and carry out care plans in English;
• be able to communicate with each resident in their primary language, in person or through a reasonable accommodation such as a language line;
• have 1,000 hours of successful direct care experience in the previous 60 months, earned after age 18, with vulnerable adults in a licensed or contracted setting. Physicians, osteopathic physicians, physician assistants, osteopathic physician assistants, registered nurses, advanced registered nurse practitioners and licensed practical nurses are exempt;
• hold valid CPR and first-aid cards, complete tuberculosis screening, and have no disqualifying crimes, pending charges or negative actions under chapter 388-113 WAC.

DSHS documents the experience on its Caregiving Experience Attestation form (DSHS 10-417).⁠⁴ Applicants must also prove financial solvency when asked,⁠¹ and the rule requires the ability to meet all personal and business financial obligations.⁠² DSHS can review credit information when deciding on an application.⁠²

Mandatory denials include failing to complete the administrator class, and surrendering an AFH license within the last 20 years after DSHS started a denial, suspension or revocation. The same applies if you, your spouse or domestic partner (for a sole proprietor), or a partner, officer, director, managerial employee or majority owner has a disqualifying conviction, is a registered sex offender, or appears on an abuse or neglect registry.⁠² The rule also lists 25 discretionary grounds. These include unmet financial obligations, having a Medicaid or Medicare agreement terminated, and having previously exceeded licensed capacity.⁠²

Every applicant and every person affiliated with the applicant needs a Washington name and date-of-birth background check and a national fingerprint check before licensure. Household members over 11, volunteers, students and noncaregiving staff who may have unsupervised access to residents need the Washington name check.⁠² For an entity representative, the spouse or domestic partner must also be listed on the application and fingerprinted.⁠⁶

Training you finish before you apply

This is the longest lead time for most new providers, and the order matters.

1. Long-term care worker basic training and certification

   AFH applicants must complete the 70-hour long-term care worker basic training and become certified before the home is licensed.⁠³ This applies even if you never plan to give hands-on care yourself.⁠² DSHS states the requirement as the 75-hour orientation, safety and basic training, followed by the home care aide certification exam and Department of Health certification, all completed before applying.⁠⁴ RNs, LPNs, certified nursing assistants and people in an approved CNA program, Medicare-certified home health aides, and a few others are exempt.⁠⁴⁠²

2. AFH administrator training

   RCW 70.128.120 calls it an “administration and business planning class” of at least 48 hours of classroom time.⁠¹ WAC 388-112A-0820 sets the curriculum at a minimum of 54 hours of class time. It covers 15 subjects, from business planning and fiscal management to fire safety and the licensing process, and ends with a required competency test.⁠³ DSHS describes it as a 54-hour course offered only through contracted community colleges. The certificate also counts for 12 hours of continuing education in the year you take it.⁠⁷ If you have already taken the class as a provider or entity representative of a licensed home, you don’t take it again. DSHS can waive it for up to four months only in exceptional circumstances.⁠²

3. CPR and first aid

   before you obtain the license (licensed nurses need CPR only).⁠³⁠²

4. Food safety

   You can keep a food worker card or take 30 minutes of DSHS food-safety continuing education each year.⁠¹³

5. Specialty training

   in dementia, mental illness or developmental disabilities, with competency testing, before you admit anyone with those needs. The same applies to the entity representative and resident manager.⁠³ DSHS grants a specialty designation once the training is documented.⁠²

The department’s separate prospective provider orientation class stopped being required on January 1, 2024.⁠⁴

Who lives in the house: the resident manager rule

The provider or entity representative must either live in the home or employ or contract with a resident manager who lives there and is responsible for every resident at all times. The live-in requirement falls away only if the home has 24-hour staffing and someone who can make needed decisions is always on site.⁠² Every home must have a designated resident manager. The provider can fill that role, but one person can be resident manager for only one home at a time.⁠²

Whenever a resident is home, at least one qualified caregiver (someone who has completed orientation and basic training) must be present. A resident may be left alone only for a limited, specific time set in their care plan, with their consent, and only if they can act in an emergency.⁠² Caregivers must be at least 18, finish basic training within 120 days of hire, and not give personal care without direct supervision until they do.⁠²⁠³ Workers serving residents with special needs need specialty training within 120 days of hire.⁠³ Providers, resident managers and most caregivers need 12 hours of continuing education by their birthday each year.⁠³

Getting the house approved

Local building official first

Before licensing, your local building official must inspect and approve the building for use as an adult family home. The same approval is needed again after any change that affects residents’ ability to exit or adds or alters a resident bedroom.⁠² Single-family dwellings converted or built for AFH use after July 1, 2007 must meet WAC 51-51-0330, the residential code provision for adult family homes.⁠² DSHS publishes the inspection checklist developed with the Washington Association of Building Officials, revised for requirements effective February 1, 2021.⁠¹⁰ You submit a floor plan of each level with the building checklist and the application.⁠⁴

If the home is on septic, the local health authority or an approved inspector must confirm three things: the system passed inspection, how many people (not bedrooms) it can serve, and that the inspector knows it will serve an AFH. Your licensor needs this documentation before recommending licensure. DSHS advises doing it before you apply because upgrades can be costly.⁠⁴

Zoning

Washington treats an adult family home as a residential use of property for zoning and utility-rate purposes. AFHs are a permitted use in every area zoned residential or commercial, including single-family zones.⁠¹ You still must meet local licensing, building, housing and fire codes as they apply to a single-family residence, and checking those with local authorities is your job.⁠¹⁠²

Physical standards in WAC 388-76

Before a resident sleeps in any bedroom DSHS has not inspected, you must notify the department and get an approved inspection.⁠²

Fire safety and the five-minute evacuation

You must be able to move every resident to a safe place outside the home in five minutes or less. Residents must leave through a designated emergency exit, on a path that does not pass through other bedrooms, without elevators, chairlifts or platform lifts. Anyone who needs help evacuating must have a route that does not use stairs.⁠² Each resident’s assessment and care plan must rate them “independent” (out after one cue) or “assistance required.” You may not admit or keep anyone you cannot evacuate safely.⁠² In practice, this means a two-story house with upstairs bedrooms may only work for residents who can evacuate independently.

As of the rule amendment effective September 20, 2026, you run partial evacuation drills at least every two months on random shifts, with every resident taking part at least once a year. You also run one full drill each calendar year with all residents together. Drills continue for staff even when the home has no residents.⁠² Each drill is logged with names, date, time, type and how long it took.⁠²

Other fire and emergency rules:⁠²

• interconnected smoke alarms in every resident bedroom, near sleeping areas and on every level (listed wireless alarms qualify);
• a five-pound 2A:10B-C extinguisher on each floor, mounted 4 to 60 inches off the floor and serviced every year;
• visual alarms if a resident cannot hear the fire alarm;
• written verification of adequate fire protection from the fire authority if the home is outside a public fire district, and written disclosure of that to residents before admission;
• a written emergency and disaster plan, a 72-hour emergency food supply for each resident and household member, and a drinking-water supply that lasts at least 72 hours and is at least three gallons for the licensed capacity, every household member and caregiving staff;
• prompt notice to the DSHS complaint resolution unit after any fire or evacuation.

Liability insurance before the first resident

You must carry both commercial general (or business) liability insurance and professional liability (or errors and omissions) insurance. Each policy needs limits of at least $500,000 per occurrence and $1,000,000 aggregate, and must indemnify the State of Washington.⁠² Coverage must be in place before you admit your first resident or 10 working days after the license is issued, whichever comes first. If you serve Medicaid residents, your Medicaid contract may require higher limits.⁠² DSHS warns that some insurers now set training and experience requirements stricter than DSHS’s own, so line up coverage early.⁠⁴

Applying through BAAU, in order

1. Finish the qualifications

   All requirements in WAC 388-76-10057 must be met before you submit. DSHS will not accept an application missing them.⁠⁶ That means the training, certification, experience and CPR/first aid above.

2. Get the building approved

   by the local building official, using the DSHS/WABO checklist, and prepare floor plans of each level.⁠²⁠⁴⁠¹⁰

3. Submit the online application

   through DSHS’s AFH Online License Application, with fees.⁠⁵⁠² DSHS warns that the symbols &, =, + and # can cause errors and should be spelled out.⁠⁵ An entity application must name an entity representative, list owners of 5% or more, and list every facility where the applicant or affiliates cared for children or vulnerable adults in the past 10 years.⁠² If you lease and your landlord takes an active interest in the business, you must name the property owner. Examples of active interest: rent set as a percentage of the business, help with start-up costs, or recruiting residents.⁠² DSHS also lists a Disclosure of Services form and the background check form with the application.⁠⁴

4. Answer DSHS requests within 60 days

   The application becomes void if you miss that deadline, or if you are not licensed within one year of first applying.⁠² BAAU communicates by email and only with the applicant.⁠⁶

5. Pass the on-site inspection

   Processing starts only once the application is complete and can take up to 60 days. DSHS states that most applicants do not pass the first inspection. After each visit you get a letter listing what is unmet. There is a maximum of three visits before DSHS reviews whether a fourth is warranted.⁠⁶ As of 2026-10-12, BAAU said it was processing applications received in June 2026.⁠⁶

6. Complete TB testing

   within three days of licensure,⁠⁴ and bind insurance before the first admission.⁠²

If DSHS denies the application, you can request a hearing in writing within 28 days of receiving the notice.⁠¹

Fees as published on 2026-10-12

Washington does not set AFH fees in rule. RCW 70.128.060 leaves them to the biennial operating budget.⁠¹ The 2025-27 budget (ESSB 5167) sets them as follows:⁠⁸

The annual fee is due every year in the month the home was first licensed.⁠² DSHS takes it by check payable to DSHS, with “Annual License Fee” and the license number in the memo, mailed to the Office of Financial Recovery, PO Box 9501, Olympia, WA 98507-9501.⁠⁹ Fees are submitted with the application.⁠² There is also a separate nonrefundable fee for increasing capacity to seven or eight beds, set in the budget.⁠¹ DSHS can grant a one-time waiver of change-of-ownership or relocation application fees in exceptional circumstances, such as a provider’s terminal illness.⁠²

ESSB 5167 sets separate fiscal-year 2026 and 2027 per-bed fees for assisted living facilities, but states one $450 figure for adult family homes. As of 2026-10-12, no DSHS page or notice we found announces a different AFH fee for fiscal year 2027, which began July 1, 2026. Ask the Business Analysis and Applications Unit ([email protected]) to confirm the per-bed amount before you send payment.

Admissions, care plans and Medicaid residents

Before admission, you need a written assessment from a qualified assessor (a DSHS case manager, a licensed nurse with three years of clinical experience, a physician, or a social-services graduate with the required years of experience). You also need a preliminary service plan. The negotiated care plan must be completed within 30 days of admission.⁠² If a resident needs nursing care you cannot provide, you contract with a Washington-licensed nurse or use nurse delegation.⁠²

Homes that accept Medicaid or state-funded residents must follow their DSHS contract and the payment rules in chapter 388-105 WAC.⁠² Every home must give prospective residents its written policy on accepting Medicaid, orally and in writing, in at least 14-point type, signed by the resident.⁠² Since January 1, 2026, each Medicaid resident must also have a signed residency agreement. It commits the home to the transfer and discharge protections of chapter 70.129 RCW and tells the resident about legal resources, including counsel at public expense subject to appropriation.⁠²⁠⁵ DSHS’s notice also requires the long-term care discharge defense screening line, (888) 437-0017, in discharge notices and residency agreements for Medicaid residents.⁠⁵

Adding beds or a second home

Seven or eight beds. You can apply only after the home has been licensed for at least 24 months and licensed for six for at least the last 12 months. You also need two full inspections with no enforcement action, and you must show you can meet the evacuation standard. If any resident needs help evacuating, the home needs an automatic sprinkler system meeting chapter 51-54A WAC. You also submit a traffic mitigation plan and a signed attestation, and give residents written notice at least 60 days before admitting a seventh resident.⁠² DSHS notifies the local jurisdiction, which can make recommendations, and DSHS weighs residents’ comments.⁠¹ A seven- or eight-bed home without sprinklers cannot serve residents who need evacuation help.⁠²

More homes. DSHS accepts an application for a second home only after you have held your first license for 24 months without enforcement actions for significant violations. Third and later homes require 12 months since the previous license, with no enforcement actions in the prior 12 months. Each home needs its own resident manager and its own 24/7 staffing, operations and emergency plans.⁠²⁠¹

Inspections, the annual fee and keeping the license

An AFH license does not need renewal. It stays valid unless it is suspended, revoked, surrendered or relinquished, or you fail to pay the annual fee.⁠² It cannot be transferred and is good only for the named provider and address. A move requires a new application and inspection, and a sale requires a change-of-ownership application.⁠²⁠⁴ DSHS can issue a provisional license of up to 12 months during a change of ownership, or after a sole provider’s sudden death.⁠¹ A home that has served no residents for 24 months must relinquish its license.⁠²

DSHS inspects at licensure, then at least every 18 months, with a statewide annual average of 15 months. A home with no citations on three consecutive inspections and no complaint violations may go two years.⁠¹ DSHS can also inspect unannounced at any time.⁠¹ If serious noncompliance leads to sanctions at one home of a multi-home provider, DSHS inspects the provider’s other homes and can charge up to $300 per extra inspection.⁠¹

You can ask the director of Residential Care Services in writing for an exemption from a specific rule. DSHS grants exemptions at its sole discretion, and a denial cannot be appealed.⁠²

Rule changes in 2026

• Effective September 20, 2026 (WSR 26-17-004). DSHS amended chapter 388-76 after the proposal in WSR 26-09-013.⁠¹²⁠² Partial drills now run “every two months” instead of every 60 days. Homes licensed after September 20, 2026 need 27-inch interior doors. Any bedroom not previously inspected needs DSHS inspection approval before a resident sleeps there. The rule that barred certain DSHS employees and their household members from licensure was repealed.⁠¹²⁠²
• Effective January 1, 2026. Medicaid residency agreements, adopted to meet federal home and community-based settings requirements, with further amendments effective April 30, 2026.⁠⁵⁠²
• From July 1, 2025. The 2025-27 operating budget (ESSB 5167) set the AFH annual fee at $450 per bed.⁠⁸

Sources

1. 1
   Washington State Legislature, Chapter 70.128 RCW: Adult family homes Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Washington State Legislature, Chapter 388-76 WAC: Adult family home minimum licensing requirements Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Washington State Legislature, Chapter 388-112A WAC: Residential long-term care services training Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Information for AFH Prospective Providers Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Information for Adult Family Home Providers Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, BAAU Application Processing Timeline Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Adult Family Home Administrator Training Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Washington State Legislature, Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5167 (2025-27 operating budget), as enacted Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, AFH Annual License Fee Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
10. 10
    Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, AFH Building Inspections Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
11. 11
    Washington State Legislature, RCW 18.20.020: Assisted living facilities, license required Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
12. 12
    Washington State Register (Department of Social and Health Services), WSR 26-09-013: Proposed rules, chapter 388-76 WAC Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
13. 13
    Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Adult Family Homes Food Safety & Food Worker Card Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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