Trust and data
You are researching this for someone you love, often quickly and under stress. So it matters that you can tell which parts of a page we can stand behind and which parts we are simply passing on.
Where each fact comes from
| What | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| License number, status, capacity, inspection counts, address | California Department of Social ServicesLinked on every listing so you can open the state record yourself. |
| Phone | California Department of Social ServicesReplaced by the operator only if they claim the listing and correct it. |
| Website, availability, corrections | The operator, via a claimSupplied by the business. We do not independently confirm these. |
| Written descriptions | Drafted with AI, then edited by a person before publicationNothing reaches a public page without a human reading it first. |
| Star ratings and review counts | Third-party platforms, shown with attributionNot presented as our own reviews, and not marked up as our own ratings. |
What we do not check
We do not inspect facilities, observe care, verify staffing levels, or confirm what an operator tells us about their own availability and services. A listing here is a starting point for your own visit and your own questions — it is not a recommendation, and it is not a substitute for reading the state’s inspection record, which we link on every listing.
Common questions
Does a business pay to be listed here?
No. Every listing was built from the public state record before anyone was contacted, and being listed is free. A business can pay for a clearly labeled Featured placement, which does not change its Trust Score or its position in search results.
Do you take a commission when a family moves in?
No. We are never paid a placement fee by a facility, which is the main way national referral sites earn. Nobody here is paid more if you choose one home over another.
Does "licensed" mean you have inspected the facility?
No. It means the California Department of Social Services holds a current license for it, and we link that record so you can read the inspection and complaint history yourself. We are not an inspector and we do not visit facilities to assess care.
What does the verified badge mean?
Only that someone connected to the business proved they are connected to it and confirmed the details. It is a statement about who edited the listing, not a judgment about the quality of care.
Why is some information missing?
Because we do not have it. Where a figure is missing the page says so rather than showing a blank, which would read as "none", or a guess, which would be worse. Most facilities do not publish their rates, and we do not estimate them.
Tell us something is wrong
Broken links, stale details and wrong numbers are treated as urgent here, not as tidying. If you run the business, find your listing and claim it — that is the fastest route and it leaves us a record of who asked.
See also: how we score, our review policy, and who runs South Bay Senior Guide.