Last updated 2026-07-25
TL;DR
Tennessee assisted living licenses are verified through the Department of Health's Health Facility Licensing and Certification database, searchable by facility name or license number. It shows license status, capacity, and inspection history. Assisted living care centers (ALCCs) are licensed under Tennessee Code Annotated Title 68, Chapter 11, Part 2, not under the assisted living label alone [1][2].
How do you look up a Tennessee assisted living license?
You look up a Tennessee assisted living license through the Tennessee Department of Health's Health Facility Licensing and Certification section, which maintains records for every licensed assisted living care center (the state's actual regulatory term for what most people call assisted living) [1]. The department posts a facility search tool and licensure information covering hospitals, nursing homes, home care organizations, and residential facilities including ALCCs. When you search, you're generally looking for the current license status (active, provisional, or revoked), the licensed capacity, the facility's address, and any public inspection or complaint history tied to that license number. Tennessee's Board for Licensing Health Care Facilities sets the rules that licensing staff enforce during survey visits, and those survey results often show up as part of the public record request process rather than a one-click download [2]. If you can't find a facility in the online tool, call the Health Facility Licensing and Certification office directly. Licensing databases lag behind reality sometimes, especially right after a change of ownership or a new opening. A facility that just got its license last month might not show up in a public search yet, and a facility that closed might still show as active until the paperwork catches up. Don't treat the online tool as the final word if you need something time-sensitive, like a placement decision for a family member. Call and confirm. For operators, this same lookup process is what a prospective competitor, a referral agency, or a family member will use to check you out before they ever call. Keeping your license number, capacity, and administrator of record current with the state isn't just compliance, it's how you show up correctly in the one database everyone checks.
What is assisted living?
Assisted living is a category of licensed residential care that provides housing, meals, and help with daily activities (bathing, dressing, medication reminders, mobility) for adults, usually older adults, who don't need the round-the-clock skilled nursing care a nursing home provides. It sits between independent living and skilled nursing on the care spectrum. Every state defines and licenses assisted living differently. Some states use the exact term "assisted living facility." Tennessee's statute calls the licensed entity an "assisted living care center" (ALCC), defined in Tennessee Code Annotated 68-11-201 as a facility that provides residential accommodations along with personal care and supportive services to persons who are unable to live independently [3]. The label difference matters if you're searching public records: searching "assisted living facility Tennessee" in a general search engine might get you consumer results, but the state's own licensing lookup organizes records under the ALCC category. For a broader look at how assisted living is defined and licensed nationally, see assisted living and assisted living facility.
What is a group home?
A group home is a licensed residential setting, usually smaller in scale than an institutional facility, where a small number of unrelated residents live together and receive supervision or care matched to their needs. The term covers a lot of ground: group homes exist for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), people in mental health recovery, youth in state custody, and, in some states, seniors who need assisted living-level support in a home-like setting. Group homes and assisted living care centers overlap in practice but not always in licensing category. A small assisted living home with six residents functions a lot like a group home day to day, but Tennessee licenses it under the ALCC rules in Title 68, Chapter 11, not under a separate "group home" statute. Tennessee's group home terminology mostly applies to child welfare and IDD residential settings licensed by different state agencies, such as the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. If you're trying to open a small residential care business, the first question to answer isn't "is this a group home or assisted living," it's "which state agency and which statute actually governs the population I plan to serve."
What is an assisted living facility (and how is it different from an assisted living care center)?
An assisted living facility is the generic, commonly used name for a licensed residence that provides housing plus help with daily living tasks for people who need some support but not full nursing care. In Tennessee, the licensed version of this is called an assisted living care center, and that's the term you need when you're searching the state's licensing database, filing an application, or reading the actual regulation text [3]. The practical difference: if you Google "assisted living facility license Tennessee," you might land on consumer review sites or national directories that use "facility" loosely. If you search the Tennessee Department of Health's own site or public records request system, you'll get further using "assisted living care center" or the ALCC abbreviation, since that's the defined regulatory term the agency uses in its rules and licensing forms [1][3]. Related reading: assisted living facilities and facility assisted living cover how this terminology shifts state to state.
What is assisted living vs nursing home?
| Licensing authority | State health department | State + federal (CMS) certification |
|---|---|---|
| Care level | Personal care, ADLs, supervision | Skilled nursing, 24-hour clinical care |
| Medicare coverage | Not covered for room and board | Covered for short-term skilled stays under conditions |
| Typical resident need | Help with bathing, dressing, meds | Post-surgical recovery, chronic illness management |
The core difference is the level of medical care provided. Assisted living (ALCCs in Tennessee) is built for people who need help with daily activities but not continuous skilled nursing care. Nursing homes, licensed separately as nursing facilities, provide 24-hour skilled nursing care for people with more serious medical needs, post-surgical recovery, or conditions requiring regular clinical oversight. Licensing reflects that difference directly. Nursing homes must meet federal Medicare and Medicaid certification standards under 42 CFR Part 483 if they want to bill those programs, on top of state licensing [4]. Assisted living care centers in Tennessee are licensed at the state level only, under Title 68, and are not subject to the federal nursing home certification rules, because they aren't classified as skilled nursing providers [3][4]. Staffing reflects it too. Nursing homes are required to have a registered nurse on site for specific hours daily and licensed nursing staff around the clock under federal rule; assisted living staffing requirements are set state by state and typically require far less clinical staffing, focused instead on personal care aides, medication assistance (where state rules allow it), and an administrator or manager on site. | Feature | Assisted living (ALCC) | Nursing home |
What does assisted living provide?
Assisted living generally provides a private or shared room, meals, housekeeping, laundry, medication management or reminders, help with bathing and dressing, transportation to appointments, and social or recreational activities. It does not typically provide 24-hour skilled nursing care, ventilator support, or complex wound care. Those fall under nursing home or home health services. Tennessee's ALCC rules require centers to have a written plan of care for each resident, staff trained to meet residents' documented needs, and a physician or health care provider assessment on file before or shortly after admission (the specific timeline and assessment form requirements are set in the state's licensing rules and should be confirmed with the Board for Licensing Health Care Facilities) [2][3]. Beyond the baseline, individual centers vary a lot in what's included in the base rate versus billed as an add-on: memory care support, higher staff-to-resident ratios, and medication administration (versus just reminders) are common areas where cost and service level diverge. If you're comparing what different facilities near you actually offer, start with senior assisted living facilities near me, which walks through how to evaluate service differences facility to facility.
Does Medicare cover assisted living facilities?
No. Medicare does not cover the cost of room and board in an assisted living facility. Medicare.gov states plainly that Medicare "doesn't cover long-term care (also called custodial care)" if that's the only kind of care you need, and assisted living room and board falls into that custodial category [5]. Medicare Part A can cover short stays in a skilled nursing facility after a qualifying hospital stay, and Medicare Part B and other parts can cover medical services a resident receives while living in assisted living (a doctor visit, physical therapy, durable medical equipment), but the housing and personal care costs themselves are not a Medicare-covered benefit [5]. Medicaid is a different story, though it's not simple either. Some states cover home and community based services, including some assisted living supports, through Medicaid waiver programs (authorized under Section 1915(c) of the Social Security Act), but coverage varies enormously by state, and Medicaid generally still won't cover the room and board portion, only certain care services [6]. Tennessee has its own managed long-term services and supports program (TennCare CHOICES) that may help cover some assisted living services for qualifying low-income residents, but eligibility rules, waiting lists, and covered services should be confirmed directly with TennCare, since these programs change enrollment periods and funding caps over time .
How to start a group home (or assisted living care center) in Tennessee
Starting a group home or assisted living business in Tennessee runs through several tracks depending on the population you plan to serve, and mixing these up is the single most common early mistake people make. If you're licensing an assisted living care center for older adults or adults needing personal care, you'll work with the Tennessee Department of Health, Health Facility Licensing and Certification section, under Title 68, Chapter 11, Part 2 [1][3]. If you're serving adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities in a residential setting, that typically runs through the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities instead. If you're planning a mental health or substance use recovery residence, different licensing categories and sometimes different agencies apply. Confirm the correct agency and statute for your specific population with Tennessee's licensing agency before you write a business plan around the wrong rulebook. General steps that apply across most residential care licensing paths: 1. Confirm which state agency licenses your population and pull the current rule text, not a summary. 2. Check local zoning. Group homes and ALCCs are often permitted in residential zones under state and federal fair housing protections, but local requirements (occupancy limits, parking, fire code) still apply and vary by county and municipality; confirm with your local planning or zoning office. 3. Secure a property that can pass fire marshal and building code inspections for the specific occupancy classification (residential care occupancies often trigger different fire code requirements than an ordinary single-family home). 4. Write your policy and procedure manual: admission criteria, care planning, medication management, staffing plan, emergency procedures, grievance process. Licensing agencies typically require this in writing before they'll issue a license, not after. 5. Build your staffing plan against the state's minimum ratios and qualification requirements (administrator qualifications, background check requirements, required training hours). 6. Submit the license application with the required fee (fee amounts change; confirm the current fee with the Tennessee Department of Health or the relevant licensing agency). 7. Pass the pre-licensure inspection covering life safety, sanitation, and program readiness. This is also where a lot of first-time applicants lose weeks: the policy manual, staffing plan, and forms have to match the specific state's rule language, not a generic template pulled from another state's website. That's the exact gap the $299 State Group Home Licensing Kit is built to close: state-matched application checklists, policy manual templates, and staffing plan structures so you're not reverse-engineering the statute from scratch.
How do I start a group home for a specific population (IDD, mental health, recovery, seniors)?
Starting a group home for a specific population means matching your license application, staffing plan, and physical building to the rules written for that population, not a generic residential care standard. Tennessee, like most states, splits licensing authority by population: seniors and adults needing personal care generally fall under Department of Health ALCC rules, adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities fall under a different department's residential rules, and mental health or recovery residences may fall under yet another regulatory track (sometimes licensed, sometimes only certified through a voluntary certification body depending on the residence type). Before you spend money on a property, get the population-specific rule in writing from the correct agency. A building configured for six seniors needing personal care assistance may not meet the physical plant, staffing ratio, or fire safety requirements for a group home serving adults in mental health recovery, even though both look similar from the outside. Ask the licensing agency directly which statute and rule chapter applies to your intended population, and get it in writing or a citation you can pull up yourself, before you sign a lease.
What questions should I ask when I do a Tennessee assisted living license lookup?
When you pull up a facility's license record, look for four things: current status (active vs. provisional vs. suspended), licensed capacity versus how many residents the facility says it houses, the administrator or license holder of record, and any recent survey or complaint history if the record shows it. A provisional license usually means the facility is operating under a corrective action plan after failing to meet a requirement during inspection. It's not automatically disqualifying, but it's worth asking the facility directly what the finding was and whether it's resolved. A mismatch between licensed capacity and actual resident count is a serious red flag and, depending on the degree, may represent an unlicensed over-capacity situation worth reporting to the licensing office [2]. If the online tool doesn't show inspection history, Tennessee's public records law allows you to request survey and complaint records directly from the Department of Health; response times and fees for records requests vary, so confirm the current process with the department's public records office.
What if the license lookup shows no results for a facility?
If a Tennessee assisted living license lookup shows no results for a facility you're checking, it doesn't automatically mean the facility is unlicensed. It could be a newly issued license not yet indexed in the online search, a name mismatch (the licensed corporate name may differ from the marketing name on the building or website), or a database update lag. Before assuming the worst, call Health Facility Licensing and Certification directly and ask them to confirm licensure status by address rather than name. If they confirm no license exists for that address and the facility is operating and charging for personal care services, that's the point to escalate a complaint to the Department of Health, since operating an unlicensed care facility is a real enforcement issue, not a paperwork technicality [2][3].
Frequently asked questions
What is assisted living?
Assisted living is licensed residential care that provides housing, meals, and help with daily activities like bathing, dressing, and medication reminders for adults who need support but not full-time skilled nursing care. States license and define it differently; Tennessee licenses it as an assisted living care center under Title 68, Chapter 11 [3].
What is a group home?
A group home is a licensed residential setting where a small number of unrelated residents live together and receive supervision or care suited to their needs. It's used across populations, including IDD, mental health recovery, youth in state custody, and sometimes seniors, and licensing authority depends on which population is served.
What is an assisted living facility?
An assisted living facility is the common name for a licensed residence providing housing plus help with daily living tasks for people who need some support but not nursing-home-level care. Tennessee's licensed version of this is called an assisted living care center (ALCC), defined under Tennessee Code Annotated 68-11-201 [3].
What is the difference between assisted living and nursing home?
Assisted living serves people who need help with daily activities but not continuous medical care; nursing homes provide 24-hour skilled nursing for people with serious medical needs. Nursing homes must meet federal certification standards under 42 CFR Part 483 to bill Medicare/Medicaid; assisted living is licensed at the state level only [3][4].
What does assisted living provide?
Typically a room, meals, housekeeping, laundry, medication reminders, help with bathing and dressing, transportation, and social activities. It generally does not include 24-hour skilled nursing, ventilator care, or complex wound care, which fall under nursing home or home health services instead.
Does Medicare cover assisted living facilities?
No. Medicare does not cover room and board in assisted living because it's considered custodial care. Medicare.gov states Medicare 'doesn't cover long-term care' when that's the only care needed [5]. Medicare may cover specific medical services (doctor visits, therapy) received while living there, but not housing or personal care costs.
How do I start a group home in Tennessee?
Confirm which state agency licenses your intended population, check local zoning, secure a property that can pass fire and building code inspection for residential care occupancy, write your policy manual and staffing plan to match the state's rule text, and submit your application with the required fee to the correct licensing agency.
How do I look up an assisted living license in Tennessee?
Use the Tennessee Department of Health's Health Facility Licensing and Certification search tool, searchable by facility name or address [1]. If the facility doesn't appear, call the licensing office directly, since new licenses or recent ownership changes can lag behind the online database.
Is Tennessee assisted living called something else in state law?
Yes. Tennessee law uses the term 'assisted living care center' (ALCC), defined in Tennessee Code Annotated 68-11-201, rather than the generic consumer term 'assisted living facility' [3]. Use ALCC terminology when searching official state records or filing licensing paperwork.
What's a provisional assisted living license?
A provisional license generally means a facility is operating under a corrective action plan after an inspection found it didn't fully meet licensing requirements. It's not automatically disqualifying, but it's worth asking the facility what the finding was and whether it has been resolved before choosing that facility.
Does TennCare cover assisted living costs?
TennCare's CHOICES program may help cover some assisted living services for qualifying low-income Tennessee residents, but eligibility, covered services, and enrollment availability change over time. Confirm current details directly with TennCare rather than relying on general information [7].
What agency licenses group homes for IDD adults in Tennessee?
Residential settings for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities are generally licensed through the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, not the Department of Health's ALCC rules used for seniors and personal care residents. Confirm the exact applicable rule chapter with that department before planning your facility.
Can I check a Tennessee assisted living facility's inspection history?
The state's licensing database may show basic status information, but full survey and complaint history is often only available by public records request to the Tennessee Department of Health. Response times and any applicable fees for records requests should be confirmed directly with the department.
Sources
- Tennessee Board for Licensing Health Care Facilities rules, Chapter 1200-08-25 (Assisted Care Living Facilities): The Board for Licensing Health Care Facilities sets rules for assisted living care centers, and licensing staff enforce them through survey inspections
- Tennessee Code Annotated 68-11-201, Definitions: Tennessee defines and licenses assisted living care centers under Title 68, Chapter 11, Part 2
- Code of Federal Regulations, 42 CFR Part 483: Nursing homes must meet federal requirements under 42 CFR Part 483 to participate in Medicare and Medicaid
- Medicare.gov, Long-Term Care: Medicare does not cover long-term custodial care, which includes assisted living room and board
- Social Security Administration, Section 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Waivers: States may cover home and community based services, including some assisted living supports, through Medicaid waivers authorized under Section 1915(c)
- TennCare, CHOICES program: TennCare's CHOICES program is Tennessee's managed long-term services and supports program that may help cover assisted living-related services for qualifying residents