Board and Care Homes - What are They?

I have an interesting topic this morning. I'd like to talk to you about Board and Care Facilities.
What are those? Well, I actually don't like the name, to be honest with you. They are also known as group homes, residential care homes, etcetera. In the state of California, you're going to find thousands of board and care facilities. Unless I'm wrong, and if someone listening to this can prove me wrong, I don't believe many states have a similar set up, and obviously the number that we find in California, of Board and Care.

So what are they? First of all, you're probably not even going to know that you drove by one unless you look carefully. They're normally single family homes in a normal residential area. They look like the everyday house that someone lives in. If you look carefully, about the only way that you're going to see a difference, there's probably a ramp by the front door for wheelchair access. So what are Board and Care? In California they're licensed, Usually 4-6 beds. All the ones that I've been in have this 6 bed licensing. Like I just mentioned, they're set up like single family homes. People buy them, they may redo the home, they may add a bedroom or a bathroom. Normally, and in many situations, especially the ones that I've been in and seen, the individual gets their own bedroom.
What type of care are they getting? They're getting a very similar amount of care to what they would see in a larger assisted living community. The staff is there to help them with daily activities such as: eating, dressing, toileting, etcetera. In my own personal case, one of the four family members that we were taking care of, the last year of their life, they lived in a boarding care. It made sense for them and it made sense for us. We were concerned. We weren't sure if this individual was going to adapt to that environment, but they adapted very well. They were taken care of very well, as well. We were concerned if they were going to eat, they found the menu and the food's great and as far as I know, finished all the food that was given to them three times each day. There were staff in this facility that were there 24 hours a day. Most are set up in a similar way. This home had a very pretty backyard where we were able to take our loved one out in the backyard, sit with them, enjoy the fresh air, the sunshine, et cetera. In addition, we could come, with notice, come and pick up our loved one from the Board and Care to take them shopping, take them to our home, take them to other events that were planned. So we had access to them, as I say, with notice.
 
So why am I bringing this up? Well, as I talk about, there are thousands of homes in Northern California and Southern California. The research that I've done, and again, if someone has better numbers than I have, correct me. I have not seen Board and Cares existing all over the country- so my question is why? We have approximately 110 million people in the United States that are 50 and older. We break that down to almost 80 million that are boomers, and the remainder are above the age currently of 80. Making up the 110 million people that I'm speaking of, where are all those people going to live? What if, and I'll talk about cost in a second, what if they can't afford someone coming in the home? What if they can't afford a larger assisted living normally? In most situations that I've seen, Board and Cares do cost less than a normal large assisted living, so they are great options. I'll talk about who they may be the best options for in a second, but back to my question from a couple of minutes ago: Where are all these people going to live? Approximately 110 million.
We know, logic tells us all the research and people that I've talked to over the years, tells us, many cannot afford care coming in the home. Many cannot afford going to an assisted living. Many do not have a daughter, a son, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, someone that says “I'm going to move in with you, mom”. So where do they go? Again, these are single family homes they're purchased. Some that I've seen look like they haven't been redone, others have been redone. As I said, adding a bedroom, adding a bathroom, whatever the case may be. I've been there. The one where we had our relative living in, where they're having group activities in the living room, they may have someone coming in once a week or more that plays music. There's different activities that they will set up for their residents. There also may be situations where there's a larger bedroom, like there are in many single family homes, were a couple can reside. So with all that, let's talk about who might be the best fit. Maybe some day down the line, what I'm about to tell you may change, but my experience in all the Board and Cares that I've visited, and there's been quite a few, it tends to be the older individual, maybe 85 or older, maybe 90 or older. Maybe they've had a stroke. Maybe there's some memory care issues. You're not going to see the hustle and bustle that you may see in a larger assisted living, but that may be perfect for that resident who's recovering from the stroke or is having memory issues. It's quiet. It doesn't have the noise and the folks running around that you'll see in an assisted living. Again, maybe that'll change. But if you have someone in that situation, having the availability of a Board and Care, gives people a lot of options when they can't live with a relative or they can't afford other aspects of care. Sure, there's still a price. But what I've seen that price is normally lower.
 
How do you find them?
We've had guests on the show, I talk about a lot placement agents, placement agents that specialize in knowing every memory care facility, every assisted living based on their area around the country. Many have contacts maybe within their own company or other folks that they know in the placement industry in other cities beyond where they work. Most of those placement agents, again, I speak about the ones in California specifically, know about all the different Board and Care homes.
Why are we not seeing more Board and Cares existing in states all over the country? From what I've seen, and I've actually seen financials from people that own Board and Cares, is that it can be lucrative. Yes, the person has to purchase the home, or maybe there's multiple people that purchase that home. I've seen individuals who have purchased many homes and have a fleet of Board and Cares. I've been in some of those fleets, mainly to see if the staff are as good from one to the next and are the services the same? And the answers I'm going to give you are “yes”. I'm sure this is probably different and I'm sure maybe some of you have seen homes like this, and maybe they haven't been great. But I know as we move closer and closer to the oldest baby boomers turning 80 in 2026, we really need to understand where they're going to live, and maybe we can make changes within the Board and Care community where we're not just seeing stroke victims, or folks with memory care but where we are seeing more lively, independent people who maybe in their late 70s, early 80s, but they enjoy that quieter environment that you're going to find in a Board and Care versus an assisted living.
 
So I wanted to bring that subject up today. I really want you guys to think about this. I want you guys to rack your brain. Wherever you're listening to this around the country, are there Board and Cares in your area? If you own one, get in touch with me. Let's get you as a guest. Let's start talking about these great community, these great small communities, these great homes, residential care homes, Board and Cares, whatever they may be called in your area.
Let's let people know that they exist.
That's one of the biggest problems- People don't even know they're out there. When I started this almost 20 years ago, there were Board and Care homes but at that point I had no idea they existed. Please reach out to me if you own one home or you own multiple homes. Let's talk about it. Let's make sure people are aware.
 
That e-mail again: [email protected].
Great topic, great topic. We need to talk about more in the future.
Until we talk again. Have an awesome day.