Valley View at Cottage Street

How Vermont regulates assisted living

Vermont licenses two kinds of residential long-term care below the nursing-home level, and both are listed here: Assisted Living Residences (apartments with services, a dozen or so statewide) and Residential Care Homes (about a hundred, from six-bed homes to large campuses). Both are licensed and inspected by the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living's Division of Licensing and Protection. Each entry shows whether the home holds the state's dementia-care designation, whether it accepts Medicaid through Assistive Community Care Services, and whether it offers Enhanced Residential Care.

Read the home's most recent licensing survey (request it from the Division of Licensing and Protection or the home), visit at mealtime, ask how many staff are on overnight, and check whether the home can keep a resident whose needs increase. The Long-Term Care Ombudsman (1-800-889-2047) takes complaints and knows the record of every licensed home.