Last updated 2026-07-25
TL;DR
Michigan doesn't publish one master public list of group homes. LARA's Adult Foster Care and Homes for the Aged licensing database is the closest thing, searchable by county or license number through LARA's online license verification system. For behavioral health or IDD-specific placements, county Community Mental Health boards keep their own referral lists.
Is there an official list of group homes in Michigan?
Not in the sense most people expect. Michigan doesn't have a single downloadable spreadsheet of every group home in the state sitting on a state website. What it has is a licensing database run by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), which oversees Adult Foster Care (AFC) facilities and Homes for the Aged (HFA) under Michigan's Adult Foster Care Facility Licensing Act, Act 218 of 1979 [1]. You can search LARA's license verification tool by facility name, city, county, or license number, and it will show you whether a home is currently licensed, its capacity, and its license status (regular, provisional, or revoked). That's the real "list." It's just not formatted as a friendly directory, it's a licensing lookup, and you have to search it rather than browse it. For mental health or intellectual/developmental disability (IDD) group homes specifically, the better starting point is often your county's Community Mental Health Services Program (CMHSP). Those boards contract with licensed AFC homes and keep their own internal referral lists for people who qualify for Medicaid behavioral health services, though those lists usually aren't public-facing either. If you're researching from the operator side rather than the placement side, our state licensing guides walk through how state-by-state licensing databases work in general.
What is assisted living?
Assisted living is a category of housing and personal care service for adults who need help with daily activities like bathing, dressing, medication reminders, or meals, but who don't need the round-the-clock skilled nursing care a nursing home provides. It sits between independent living and a nursing facility on the care spectrum. Michigan doesn't have a license called "assisted living facility" the way some states do (Florida and Texas, for example, use that exact term). Instead, Michigan licenses these settings as either Homes for the Aged (HFA), which are larger congregate facilities for people 55 and older serving more supervised care, or Adult Foster Care facilities, which range from small family homes (1-6 residents) to larger congregate AFC facilities [2]. So when someone in Michigan says "assisted living," they usually mean a licensed AFC or HFA home, even though neither license uses that exact phrase. For a broader look at how the term gets used across states, see assisted living.
What is a group home?
A group home is a licensed residential setting where a small number of unrelated people, usually people with disabilities, mental illness, substance use recovery needs, or seniors needing supervision, live together and receive care from paid staff. It's a home, not a hospital or institution. That's the whole point of the model: smaller, more like a family setting, staff on site rather than residents traveling to a clinic. In Michigan, most of what people call "group homes" are licensed as Adult Foster Care facilities. AFC licenses cover a spectrum: Family Homes (1 to 6 residents, in a private residence), Small Group Homes, Large Group Homes (up to 12 residents), and Congregate Facilities (13 or more) [2]. Each license class has its own staffing ratios, physical plant rules, and inspection frequency. If you're building out a business plan around one of these categories, the assisted living facility guide covers the licensing distinctions in more depth.
What is an assisted living facility (and how does Michigan license it)?
An assisted living facility, in the generic sense used across the industry, is a licensed residence providing housing, meals, and personal care assistance, usually for seniors, without the medical intensity of a nursing home. The exact license name and rules vary enormously by state. Michigan's closest equivalent is the Home for the Aged (HFA) license, which the Public Health Code frames around facilities providing room, board, and supervised personal care to individuals age 55 and older [3]. HFAs are inspected and licensed by LARA's Bureau of Community and Health Systems, the same bureau that licenses nursing homes and hospices. Unlike a nursing home, an HFA cannot provide continuous nursing care. If a resident's needs escalate past what personal care and supervision can handle, they typically have to transfer to a skilled nursing facility. That licensing boundary matters a lot for operators: your admission and discharge policies have to spell out exactly where that line is. See assisted living facilities for how other states draw that same line differently.
What is assisted living vs nursing home?
| Licensing agency | LARA, Bureau of Community and Health Systems | LARA, same bureau, separate license type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing care level | Supervised personal care, medication assistance | 24-hour skilled nursing, RN/LPN on staff | |
| Medicare coverage | Generally not covered as a room-and-board benefit | Covered for short-term skilled care after a qualifying hospital stay [4] | |
| Typical resident profile | Needs help with ADLs, stable medically | Needs ongoing medical/nursing intervention | |
| Federal certification | Not Medicare/Medicaid certified in the same way | Certified under CMS Conditions of Participation | The practical upshot: if a resident needs a ventilator, IV therapy, or wound care beyond basic first aid, that's a nursing home conversation, not an AFC or HFA one. Licensing surveyors will flag a home for keeping residents whose needs exceed the license category. |
The difference comes down to medical acuity and staffing. Assisted living (Michigan's HFA or AFC licenses) provides housing, supervision, and help with daily activities like bathing and medication reminders. A nursing home provides 24-hour skilled nursing care, licensed under a completely different set of federal and state rules, and is certified separately for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. Here's a rough comparison for Michigan specifically: | Feature | Adult Foster Care / Home for the Aged | Nursing Home (Skilled Nursing Facility) |
What does assisted living provide?
At minimum, assisted living provides a private or shared room, meals, help with activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, toileting, mobility), medication management or reminders, housekeeping, and 24-hour staff availability for supervision and emergencies. Beyond that baseline, what's included varies a lot by facility and by state license type. In Michigan, AFC licensing rules require homes to provide protective supervision, personal care, and, depending on the license subclass, room and board, but medical treatment beyond basic first aid generally requires outside home health or hospice involvement [2]. Homes for the Aged have similar baseline requirements plus additional physical plant standards because they often serve larger populations of older adults [3]. Something people often miss: neither AFC nor HFA licenses in Michigan automatically include transportation, on-site physical therapy, or memory care programming. Those are usually add-on services a facility chooses to offer. If you're an operator, they belong in your policy manual and your admission agreement, not assumed as included.
Does Medicare cover assisted living facilities?
No, not as a housing or room-and-board benefit. Medicare Part A and Part B don't pay for the cost of living in an assisted living facility, Home for the Aged, or Adult Foster Care home. Medicare.gov's long-term care coverage page states that Medicare and Medicaid generally do not cover the cost of custodial long-term care in a residential setting like assisted living [4]. What Medicare will cover, even for someone living in an assisted living or AFC setting, is medically necessary services delivered there: doctor visits, physical therapy ordered by a physician, durable medical equipment, and home health visits that meet Medicare's home health criteria. It just won't pay the facility's monthly rate for room, board, and supervision. Medicaid is a different story, and this is where it gets confusing for families. Michigan's Medicaid program, through the MI Choice Home and Community-Based Services waiver, can help cover certain services in some AFC and HFA settings for eligible low-income seniors and adults with disabilities, but it works through a waiver application and county-level administration, not automatic coverage [5]. Confirm current MI Choice waiver eligibility and enrollment status with your county Area Agency on Aging, since availability and waitlists change.
What is the difference between assisted living and nursing home, in plain terms?
If you had to explain it in one sentence: assisted living helps people live independently with support, a nursing home takes over medical care for people who can't manage without it. Assisted living residents typically walk to meals, manage their own schedules with reminders, and need help rather than hands-on medical treatment. Nursing home residents often need daily clinical monitoring, wound care, IV medications, or rehabilitation therapy that requires licensed nursing staff around the clock. Cost structure differs too. Nursing homes bill Medicare for short-term post-hospital skilled care (up to 100 days per benefit period, with a copay after day 20) [4], while assisted living and AFC costs are almost always private-pay or Medicaid-waiver funded, with no Medicare short-term benefit attached. For operators deciding which model to build, this distinction drives your entire staffing plan. A nursing home requires RN supervision under federal Conditions of Participation. An AFC or HFA home in Michigan has its own staffing and training rules set by LARA, which are less clinically intensive but still specific about staff-to-resident ratios and required training hours [2].
How to start a group home in Michigan
Starting a group home in Michigan means applying for an Adult Foster Care license (or Home for the Aged license, if you're serving seniors 55+) through LARA's Bureau of Community and Health Systems. The process has real sequencing: you generally can't get your building inspected until your application and floor plan are submitted, and you can't get licensed until inspections clear. Here's the rough sequence, though you should confirm current steps and forms with LARA directly since requirements get updated: 1. Decide your license category. Family Home (1-6 residents), Small Group Home, Large Group Home (up to 12), or Congregate Facility, based on Michigan's AFC licensing rules [2]. 2. Check zoning. Michigan's Public Health Code and related planning law generally treat small AFC family homes as a permitted residential use, not a special land use, but larger group homes may trigger local zoning review. Confirm with your municipality's planning department. 3. Submit your application to LARA, including your facility floor plan, policies and procedures manual, staffing plan, and background check documentation for all owners and direct care staff. 4. Pass the licensing survey/inspection. LARA inspects for life safety, physical plant standards, staffing, and required policies before issuing a license. 5. Get your fire and building inspections cleared, coordinated with your local fire marshal and building department, since AFC and HFA licensing requires proof of compliance with applicable fire safety codes. 6. Complete required staff training, including first aid, CPR, and any disability- or population-specific training LARA requires for your license subclass. This is where a lot of first-time applicants underestimate the paperwork load. Your policy and procedure manual alone (medication management, resident rights, emergency preparedness, grievance procedures) typically runs dozens of pages, and LARA reviewers will kick applications back for missing sections. If you want a structured starting point instead of building every policy from scratch, our $299 State Group Home Licensing Kit gives you Michigan-ready templates to adapt, though you'll still need to confirm current forms and fee amounts directly with LARA before you submit.
How do I start a group home if I've never run one before?
First-time operators should treat this as two parallel tracks: the licensing paperwork track, and the operations-readiness track. A lot of applicants focus only on the paperwork and get caught off guard by the operational side once they're licensed and residents actually move in. On the licensing side, expect LARA to want proof of financial capacity to operate, a criminal background clearance for all owners and staff (Michigan runs these through the Michigan State Police and, for certain populations, the FBI), and a facility that passes both a health/safety inspection and a fire safety inspection. None of that happens overnight. Realistic timelines from application to licensed and open often run several months, and that's before you've found and trained staff. On the operations side, before your first resident ever arrives you need: an admission and discharge policy that matches your license category, a medication management protocol, a staffing schedule that meets Michigan's ratio requirements for your license subclass, incident reporting procedures, and a relationship with at least one local Community Mental Health board or Area Agency on Aging if you plan to accept Medicaid waiver residents. The honest advice: don't sign a lease or buy a property before you've confirmed zoning allows the license category you want. That single step derails more first-time operators than anything else in the process.
Where do county Community Mental Health lists fit in?
If you're searching for a "list of group homes in Michigan" because you're trying to place someone with a mental illness or IDD diagnosis, LARA's licensing database will tell you a home is licensed, but it won't tell you whether that home has an open bed, accepts Medicaid, or specializes in your population. That's the job of your county's Community Mental Health Services Program (CMHSP). Michigan's Mental Health Code establishes CMHSPs as the local entities responsible for coordinating publicly funded behavioral health and developmental disability services [6], and in practice, they maintain internal referral relationships with AFC homes they've vetted and contracted with. If you or a family member is Medicaid-eligible and needs a group home placement for mental illness, IDD, or co-occurring conditions, your first call should be your county CMHSP's access/referral line, not a general web search. For senior placements specifically, the analogous resource is your regional Area Agency on Aging, which can help identify HFA and AFC homes participating in MI Choice or other aging services programs.
What should you actually check before trusting any "list" you find?
Any list of group homes you find online, whether it's a for-profit senior-placement directory, a nonprofit resource page, or a Facebook group, is only as good as its last update. Licenses get revoked, homes close, capacity changes. The only way to confirm current status is to check LARA's license verification system directly for the specific facility name or license number [1]. What to verify before placing a loved one or partnering with a facility as a referral source: - Current license status. Regular, provisional, or any pending enforcement action.
- License category and capacity. Does it match the level of care actually needed?
- Most recent inspection findings. LARA inspection reports are public record; ask for them or request through LARA directly.
- Staffing on the ground, more than staffing on paper. Ask about actual staff-to-resident ratios during day, evening, and overnight shifts.
- Whether the home accepts Medicaid waiver funding, if that's relevant to the resident's payment source. None of that information reliably lives in a static "list." It lives in LARA's licensing records and in direct conversations with the facility and, where applicable, the county CMHSP or Area Agency on Aging.
Frequently asked questions
What is assisted living?
Assisted living is housing combined with personal care support (bathing, dressing, medication reminders, meals) for adults who need help with daily activities but not full-time skilled nursing care. Michigan licenses these settings as Adult Foster Care or Homes for the Aged rather than under the exact term "assisted living facility" [2][3].
What is a group home?
A group home is a licensed residential setting where a small number of unrelated residents, often people with disabilities, mental illness, or seniors needing supervision, live together with paid staff support. In Michigan, this is almost always licensed as an Adult Foster Care facility under LARA [2].
What is an assisted living facility?
An assisted living facility is a licensed residence offering room, board, and personal care assistance without full nursing services. Michigan's version of this is the Home for the Aged license, which covers people 55 and older and requires supervised personal care but not continuous skilled nursing [3].
What is assisted living vs nursing home?
Assisted living provides housing and help with daily activities; a nursing home provides 24-hour skilled nursing care under federal Conditions of Participation. Nursing homes can bill Medicare for short-term skilled care after a hospital stay; assisted living and Michigan AFC/HFA settings generally cannot [4].
What does assisted living provide?
At minimum: a room, meals, help with bathing/dressing/toileting/mobility, medication reminders, housekeeping, and 24-hour staff supervision. Michigan's AFC and HFA licenses require protective supervision and personal care, but transportation, therapy programs, and memory care are usually add-ons the facility chooses to offer, not automatic inclusions [2][3].
Does Medicare cover assisted living facilities?
No. Medicare.gov's long-term care coverage guidance says Medicare generally does not cover the cost of long-term custodial care, including most assisted living and nursing home room-and-board costs [4]. Medicare will cover medically necessary services like doctor visits or physical therapy delivered at the facility, just not the facility's monthly rate.
How do I start a group home in Michigan?
Decide your license category (Family Home, Group Home, or Congregate Facility), confirm local zoning allows it, submit an application with floor plans, policies, and staffing plans to LARA's Bureau of Community and Health Systems, pass health and fire safety inspections, and complete required staff training before opening [1][2].
What is the difference between assisted living and nursing home care?
Assisted living supports independence with help for daily tasks; nursing homes deliver hands-on clinical care for people who can't manage without ongoing nursing intervention. The staffing, licensing agency oversight, and Medicare/Medicaid billing rules differ substantially between the two settings [4].
Is there an official Michigan state list of all group homes?
There's no single public spreadsheet. LARA's online license verification tool is the closest official source, searchable by facility name, county, or license number, and it shows current licensing status for Adult Foster Care and Home for the Aged facilities [1].
How can I find a group home that accepts Medicaid in Michigan?
Contact your county's Community Mental Health Services Program for behavioral health or IDD placements, or your regional Area Agency on Aging for senior placements through the MI Choice waiver. These agencies maintain contracted referral relationships that a general licensing search won't show [5][6].
What license does Michigan use instead of 'assisted living facility'?
Michigan uses Adult Foster Care (AFC) licenses for group settings serving adults with disabilities or seniors needing supervised care, and Home for the Aged (HFA) licenses specifically for congregate housing serving people 55 and older, both regulated by LARA [2][3].
How long does it take to get a group home licensed in Michigan?
Timelines vary by license category, application completeness, and inspection scheduling, but applicants should expect the process, from application submission through passing fire, building, and health inspections, to take several months. Confirm current processing timelines directly with LARA's Bureau of Community and Health Systems.
Can a group home in Michigan provide skilled nursing care?
No. Adult Foster Care and Home for the Aged licenses don't cover continuous skilled nursing care. If a resident's medical needs exceed what personal care and supervision can address, they typically need to transfer to a licensed nursing home certified for that level of care.
Sources
- Michigan LARA, Bureau of Community and Health Systems, Adult Foster Care and Homes for the Aged licensing search: LARA licenses and verifies Adult Foster Care and Home for the Aged facilities and provides searchable license status
- Michigan Adult Foster Care Facility Licensing Act, Act 218 of 1979 (MCL 400.701 et seq.): Michigan's AFC license categories (Family Home, Small Group Home, Large Group Home, Congregate Facility) and their capacity limits
- Michigan Public Health Code, MCL 333.20106: Definition and licensing basis for Homes for the Aged serving individuals 55 and older
- Medicare.gov, long-term care coverage: Medicare does not cover long-term custodial care including most assisted living and nursing home room-and-board costs
- Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, MI Choice Waiver Program overview: MI Choice Home and Community-Based Services waiver can help cover certain services for eligible seniors and adults with disabilities in home and community settings
- Michigan Mental Health Code, MCL 330.1204: Community Mental Health Services Programs coordinate publicly funded behavioral health and developmental disability services at the county level