What a California home care license costs

Who needs one

Since January 2016, California requires Home Care Organizations to be licensed by the Department of Social Services before providing home care services, and the caregivers they employ to be registered on the Home Care Aide Registry.³⁴

What the state charges

We could not confirm the renewal fee amount, the processing time, or the premium cost of the bond from an official page. Confirm those with the Department before you plan your budget.

• The Department’s fee page lists $5,603 for a two-year license.¹
• For fingerprinting and Live Scan fees, the same page refers you to the Department’s Care Provider Management Branch.¹

What the law requires you to maintain

Health and Safety Code section 1796.42 requires a licensee to:²

• maintain a valid workers’ compensation policy covering its affiliated home care aides
• maintain an employee dishonesty bond, including third-party coverage, with a minimum limit of $10,000
• maintain proof of general and professional liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence and $3,000,000 in the aggregate

What you take on for your caregivers

The Department says a licensed agency’s caregivers meet the training requirements, are free of active tuberculosis and are background check cleared through the Department, and that the agency accepts all employer responsibilities, including workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance and the employer-paid share of payroll taxes.⁴

How to apply

Follow the Department’s application process.⁵ Once you are licensed, you appear in our directory from the state’s license data, and you can claim your listing to publish rates.