Assisted Living Waiver
Evergreen Chateau Assisted Living is a medical approved facility for the Assisted Living Waiver (ALW) Program.
The Assisted Living Waiver (ALW) is a Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver that was created by legislation that directed the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to develop and implement the project to test the efficacy of assisted living as a Medi-Cal benefit.
The pilot program was determined to be successful during the first (3) three years in a limited trial in three counties. In March 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved a waiver renewal for an additional five years and expansion of the program into additional counties. Today the ALW is operating in Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Sonoma counties. A five-year waiver renewal was effective March 1, 2014.
The goal of the ALW is to:
- Facilitate a safe and timely transition of Medi-Cal eligible seniors and persons with disabilities from a nursing facility to a community home-like setting in a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE) or public subsidized housing, utilizing ALW services; and
- Offer eligible seniors and persons with disabilities, who reside in the community, but are at risk of being institutionalized, the option of utilizing ALW services to develop a program that will safely meet his/her care needs while continuing to reside in a RCFE or public subsidized housing.
The Assisted Living Waiver (ALW) Program