Daytona Beach Senior AdvisorIs memory care licensed separately in Florida?
It will be: s. 429.076, Florida Statutes, enacted by chapter 2026-102, requires an assisted living facility that serves memory care residents or holds itself out as providing memory care to add a memory care services license to its ALF license once AHCA's rules take effect.
The memory care license follows the same renewal cycle as the facility's main license. A facility that offers optional supportive services to residents with dementia, without using the protected terms in its marketing, will not need it.
When do the new requirements start?
AHCA must adopt minimum standards by June 1, 2027; once the rules are effective, new facilities need the license before serving memory care residents and facilities already licensed have six months.
In the meantime, s. 429.178 governs ALFs advertising special care for Alzheimer's disease or related disorders: a staff member awake at all hours once 17 or more residents live there (smaller homes may use mechanical monitoring), activities designed for people with memory loss, a physical environment built for safety, and staff dementia training under s. 430.5025.
What will the AHCA rules have to cover?
The statute directs AHCA to set admission criteria, minimum services and activities, staff training at least as strong as s. 430.5025, physical plant standards, contract terms and at least one awake staff member at all hours.
It also reserves marketing terms for licensees: memory care, memory care facility or services, dementia care, dementia care facility, Alzheimer's care and Alzheimer's care facility. Section 429.178 is repealed once the new rules are adopted.
What happens if a facility caring for people with dementia does not get the license?
It may keep existing memory care residents only if it shows AHCA it cannot reasonably obtain the license, tells residents and their families in writing that they may move to a licensed facility, helps them find one on request, stops admitting new memory care residents and amends each contract to describe the services it actually provides.
For a family choosing in late 2026 that is a real planning risk: a building that markets memory care today but does not plan to apply could stop taking new memory care residents within a year or so.
What should we ask a Volusia or Flagler memory care community now?
Ask whether it will apply for the s. 429.076 license, whether it currently advertises special Alzheimer's care under s. 429.178, how many staff are awake on the memory care wing overnight, and how many of today's caregivers have completed dementia training.
In the two counties, 42 of the 105 licensed ALFs report a memory care program to AHCA. Their combined license capacity is 3,072 residents, a ceiling for the whole building rather than a count of secured memory care beds. The memory care flag on an AHCA profile is reported by the facility itself, so treat our list as a starting point to verify; once licenses are issued they will appear on each AHCA record.
At a glance
| Florida's memory care law already | Florida's memory care law does not yet | |
|---|---|---|
| Statute | Requires a license to serve or advertise memory care | Have adopted rules (due June 1, 2027) |
| Interim | Holds Alzheimer's-care advertisers to s. 429.178 | Set a staff-to-resident ratio |
| Nights | Requires someone awake at 17+ residents | Require a nurse on the memory care unit |
Sources: Chapters 408, 429 and 651, Florida Statutes; Florida Administrative Code chapters 59A-36 and 65A-2; publications of AHCA, DCF, OIR and the Department of Elder Affairs; and the CareScout and VA tables named on the page. See our editorial standards for how figures are checked.
