FYI Safety Score™
Our methodology, explained
Important: The FYI Safety Score™ is provided for informational purposes only. It is based on publicly available government records and is not a guarantee or prediction of safety, quality of care, or suitability. Scores may not reflect the most recent inspection activity. Always visit in person, conduct your own research, and consult with healthcare professionals before making care decisions.
The FYI Safety Score is a 0.0 to 9.9 rating that reflects how a facility has performed in state safety inspections. It is based entirely on public data from California's Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) — the state agency that inspects and regulates residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs).
We built this score because families deserve a simple, honest way to compare safety records. No facility can pay to improve their score. It is objective, transparent, and based on government records anyone can verify.
What goes into the score
The FYI Safety Score is calculated from three components, each reflecting a different dimension of safety oversight:
Type A Citations
The most serious findings — immediate risk to the health, safety, or personal rights of residents. Examples include medication errors causing harm, inadequate supervision leading to injury, or failure to report abuse.
Substantiated Complaints
When a family or individual files a formal complaint and state investigators determine the complaint is valid. These are real, verified concerns — not unsubstantiated allegations.
Type B Citations
Less severe findings that don't pose an immediate threat but could become serious if uncorrected. Examples include record-keeping issues, minor maintenance problems, or procedural gaps.
Recent performance matters more
We don't think it's fair to penalize a facility equally for something that happened five years ago and something that happened last month. Our scoring applies recency weighting:
A facility that had issues years ago but has been clean recently will score higher than one with the same total citations but all recent.
What the scores mean
Where the data comes from
All data comes from the California Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) Transparency API. This is the same state agency that licenses, inspects, and regulates all residential care facilities in California. The data is public record and updated regularly.
We pull inspection visit data, citation history, and complaint outcomes directly from the CCLD database. You can verify any facility's record by searching on the CCLD website.
What this score doesn't tell you
The FYI Safety Score measures regulatory compliance — how a facility performs during state inspections. It does not measure:
- Quality of daily life or resident satisfaction
- Staff friendliness or responsiveness
- Food quality or activity programming
- Aesthetics, cleanliness beyond what inspectors check
- Whether the facility is the right fit for your specific needs
A safety score is one important data point, but it's not the whole picture. We always recommend visiting in person, talking to current residents and families, and trusting your instincts.
Manage a facility?
If you believe a score is inaccurate or doesn't reflect recent improvements, we want to hear from you. Facility operators can claim their listing to update information, add context, and ensure their record is current.
and we'll look into it.
Disclaimer: The FYI Safety Score™ is provided by AssistedLiving.fyi for general informational purposes only. It is derived from publicly available data published by California's Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) and may not reflect the most current inspection results, pending investigations, or recent corrective actions taken by a facility.
This score is not a guarantee, endorsement, or prediction of the safety, quality, or suitability of any facility. It should not be used as the sole basis for any care decision. AssistedLiving.fyi makes no warranties, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the score or underlying data.
We strongly recommend visiting facilities in person, speaking with staff and current residents, reviewing the full state inspection record, and consulting with healthcare professionals before making care decisions. If you believe a score contains an error, please .