Look up any care provider in North County and see its record: 325 assisted living homes (176 of them listed by the State as serving residents with dementia), 39 nursing homes, 106 home care agencies and 25 adult day programs. Type a name or a town, or pick a type.
Record Watch: tap "Watch this home" on any home in the results and PJ texts you when a new State visit, complaint or citation posts on its record. It's part of the Parent Check-In Plan, $25 a month.
Assisted living, home care and adult day: California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing facility search, read 2026-10-19; homes the search shows as closed are left out of assisted living. Nursing homes: CMS Care Compare, data as of 2026-09-01, the 39 within 20 miles of Solana Beach. Rebuilt every morning. No provider pays to be here.
From PJ: When my family went through it, the hardest part was not knowing what to ask or where to start. I'm a local here in Cardiff, and I'm happy to sit down with you and sort it out together. Text me anytime. Text PJ
A calm hand for the hospital or care-home week: PJ checks the State and Medicare records with you, writes down the questions for the doctors or the home, and helps you fill in the HIPAA form and sign in to the patient portal, so the family can see what's happening. Family Assist, $30 an hour. No medical or legal advice. Text PJ
Who's reading?
- You're looking up a home for a parent
"How do I look up a California nursing home's citations?" Type the name or town in the search above: the State's record and Medicare's rating, free. - You already have a shortlist
Care Home Check, $79 flat: PJ goes through up to 5 homes' records with you and calls for openings and the real price. - Your parent already lives in one
Record Watch: PJ checks the home's State record every week and texts you if anything new posts. Part of the Parent Check-In Plan, $25 a month.
Pick the line that sounds like you. Not sure? Text PJ and say who you are.
How to read a State record
- Last State visit: the most recent visit date on the State's facility search.
- Complaint investigations: how many complaints the State investigated, and how many of the allegations it found substantiated.
- Citations, Type A and Type B: the State's own labels for the citations it issues. The line adds up both kinds from complaint, inspection and other visits; the visit reports on the State's page say what each one was for.
- State citations (nursing homes): the California Department of Public Health's own citations, Class AA, A and B under Health and Safety Code 1424, plus penalties for falling below the State's minimum nursing hours, from CDPH's enforcement file (1997 to mid-2024), matched by the home's federal provider number. What each class means.
- Sections cited by area (assisted living): the regulation behind each citation in the State's licensing download, grouped under its Title 22 heading, for example medications and medical care (section 87465), staffing (87411) and dementia care (87705), with the years of its plan-of-correction dates. Every section in each area.
- New license since (assisted living): the home was first licensed in the last 2 years. When the State lists a closed license at the same address, the line names the prior licensee (organizations only) and links that license's State page.
- Clean State record is our shorthand, not the State's: an open license, no Type A or Type B citations (for assisted living, no cited section in the State's download either) and no substantiated complaint allegations.
- The State's caveat: the State notes that citations may be under appeal or already corrected, so open the report before you judge a number.
- A closed license: if the facility search shows an agency or program's license as closed, its line says so.
- Nursing homes are certified by Medicare, so their line comes from CMS Care Compare: the overall stars, citations from the latest inspection cycle (health and fire safety, and how many inspectors graded as actual harm or immediate jeopardy), fines, and complaint inspections in the last three years. What the inspection grades mean · warning signs the stars don't show.
Help choosing, paid by you, never by a home
Care Home Check, $79 flat. Send PJ up to 5 homes on your shortlist. He goes through each one's State record with you, calls for openings and the real monthly price (and what raises it), and gives you the tour questions, including the dementia-care plan of operation.
Record Watch. After the move, PJ checks your parent's home on the State's record every week and texts you if a new visit, complaint or citation posts. It's part of the Parent Check-In Plan, $25 a month.
No home pays SideGuy anything: no referral fees, no sponsored listings on this page.
The full lists: assisted living, every home · memory care · nursing homes, rated · in-home care agencies · adult day care · the care ladder.
Send this to your siblings. The message is already written; you just pick who.
"Before we pick a place for Mom or Dad: look up any North County care home and see its State inspection record (visits, complaints, citations) in one search:"
Need a human?
This page is built every morning from public data by SideGuy, run by PJ, a local in Solana Beach. If something looks off, or you want a hand with your plans, text PJ at 858-461-8054. A real person answers.
Local help, free to read: make your fix plan · senior benefits checkup · lower your SDG&E bill · Medicare Extra Help · every 2027 Medicare plan · is my medication recalled? · the next 90 days. Plans start as low as $25. Your parent lives here and you don't? The Parent Check-In Plan, $25 a month.
Questions people ask
How do I check a care home's inspection record?
Type its name on this page: it searches 495 North County providers and shows each one's State record (last visit, complaint investigations, substantiated allegations, Type A and Type B citations), or for a nursing home Medicare's stars, citations, fines and complaint inspections, with a link to the official page and reports. The State notes that citations may be under appeal or already corrected, so open the report before you judge a number.
Where do I look up a nursing home's record in California?
Medicare's Care Compare lists each certified nursing home's stars, inspections, fines and complaint inspections. The State's record, complaints included, is on the California Department of Public Health's Cal Health Find. This page searches the 39 nursing homes within 20 miles of Solana Beach.
Can someone watch a care home's record for me?
Yes: Record Watch. PJ checks your parent's home on the State's record every week and texts you when a new visit, complaint or citation posts. It's part of the Parent Check-In Plan, $25 a month. No home pays SideGuy anything.
Know someone who needs this?
Got a question about this? Ask PJ a question. A real person in Solana Beach texts you back.
Something changed here? Text PJ the fix: if it changes this page, you get $5. How it works.
Spotted something new around town? Text it in. What do you want to see here? Ask PJ for a page. No login, a real person reads it.
More free local tools: the North County toolkit.