Connecticut assisted living rules: what you must document about each resident

This page explains what Connecticut's assisted living regulation requires an agency to learn about each client and document, and what the state's dementia special care law adds. The text quoted here was checked against the official sources on September 28, 2026.

Connecticut's rules are service-focused and brief on personal detail. They require a social status assessment and a service program shaped by the client's and family's preferences, but they do not ask for routines, hobbies, or a life story. The regulation also calls residents "clients," because the licensed entity is a service agency rather than a building.

Who these rules cover

Connecticut splits assisted living into two parts. The housing is a managed residential community:

"“Managed residential community” means a facility consisting of private residential units that provides a managed group living environment, including housing and services primarily for persons age fifty-five (55) or older."Conn. Agencies Regs. § 19-13-D105(a)(13)

The care comes from a licensed assisted living services agency, which provides nursing services and assistance with activities of daily living to clients living in the MRC. An MRC must make core services available, including meals, laundry, housekeeping, transportation for "social and recreational events," and:

"(F) programs of social and recreational opportunities."Conn. Agencies Regs. § 19-13-D105(c)(3)(F)

The MRC must also employ an on-site service coordinator, with a social work or related human services background, who works with the agency. The Department of Public Health licenses the agency and enforces the regulation.¹

The assessment

A registered nurse is responsible for admitting clients, developing the service program, and assessing each client. The client service record must include:

"assessment of the client including pertinent past and current health history, physical, mental and social status, and evaluation of client's needs;"Conn. Agencies Regs. § 19-13-D105(k)(2)(F)

The record also holds identifying data including marital status and religion, a family member or significant other, the physician, diagnoses, orders, and an annual certification that the client's condition is chronic and stable.¹ Reassessment is on a fixed maximum interval:

"assessments, completed as often as necessary based on the client's condition but not less frequently than every one hundred and twenty (120) days,"Conn. Agencies Regs. § 19-13-D105(h)(3)(C)

The RN must act promptly when a change in condition calls for a change in the service program, and coordinate services "with the client, family, and other appropriate individuals."¹

The client service program

Connecticut's version of a service plan is the client service program, "a written schedule of assisted living services to be provided to, reviewed with and agreed to by a client or client representative."¹ The record must contain:

"a client service program, completed by a registered nurse in consultation with the client, family and others involved in the care of the client, within seven (7) days of the client's admission to the agency, which shall be reviewed as often as the client's condition requires but not less than once every one hundred and twenty (120) days, shall be explained to, reviewed with and agreed to by the client or his or her representative, shall reflect the client's or his or her representative's or family's preferences and choices regarding client services,"Conn. Agencies Regs. § 19-13-D105(k)(2)(H)

It must include the client's problems and needs, goals and intervention plans, types and frequency of services and equipment, what family or informal supports will provide, medications and treatments, written instructions for the assisted living aide, and the plan for RN supervision of aides.¹ The client's bill of rights includes responsibility for taking part in developing the program and the right to refuse services.

Activities

Connecticut does not set a daily activity calendar rule for assisted living. The requirement sits with the managed residential community, which must offer "programs of social and recreational opportunities" and transportation to social and recreational events. The regulation does not say how programs should be matched to individuals, so it is up to you to connect the social status assessment to what each client is offered.

Dementia special care units

Connecticut addresses memory care by statute. A dementia special care unit or program includes an assisted living facility "that locks, secures, segregates or provides a special program or unit for residents with a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's disease, dementia or other similar disorder," or markets itself as providing specialized dementia care.² Each must give a signed written disclosure explaining the care beyond ordinary licensing rules, including:

"Assessment, care planning and implementation. The process used for assessing and establishing and implementing the plan of care, including the method by which the plan of care is modified in response to changes in condition."Conn. Gen. Stat. § 19a-562(b)(3)

"(6) Residents' activities. The frequency and types of resident activities and the ratio of residents to recreation staff. (7) Family role in care. The involvement of families and family support programs."Conn. Gen. Stat. § 19a-562(b)

The disclosure is reviewed annually and updated within 30 days of a significant change. The statute describes what you must disclose; it does not itself require a social history. Section 19a-562a separately sets training requirements for dementia special care unit staff.²

What surveyors tend to look for

Based only on what the regulation tells you to document, expect Department of Public Health surveyors to review:

• A client service record in the department's format, with an RN assessment covering health history and physical, mental, and social status.
• A client service program completed by an RN within seven days of admission, developed with the client and family and agreed to by the client or representative.
• Evidence the program reflects the client's or family's preferences and choices.
• Assessments and program reviews at least every 120 days, and prompt changes after a change in condition.
• Aide instructions written before the aide begins care, and documentation of coordination with family.
• For dementia special care units, a signed disclosure form that is reviewed annually.

Gathering preferences and life history well

• Use the first week. The service program is due in seven days, so start the conversation at admission. Ask open questions: "Tell me about your days before you moved here." "What do you most want to keep doing?"
• Involve family from the start. The rule already requires consultation with family. Ask them for stories, routines, and names.
• Put "social status" in plain words. Who visits, which friendships matter, what the person enjoys, and what they would rather avoid.
• Share it with the service coordinator. The MRC runs the social and recreational programs. Pass along interests so programs reach the right people.
• Revisit every 120 days. Use each RN reassessment to check whether preferences and interests have changed.

How Porchlight can help

Porchlight gives residents a simple way to tell their own stories. A resident taps one large button on a tablet, and a life question is read aloud and shown in large type. They talk, and the answer is recorded and transcribed. More than 800 human-written questions are organized by life chapter, any question can be skipped, and nothing is scored. Staff can record profile facts, including topics to avoid, and receive a "Know Your Resident" briefing with conversation starters, story highlights, a printable life-story biography, and a Monday email digest. Family get a private page to listen, leave voice replies, and add their own questions and photos.

It helps you gather and keep the preferences and social detail that the assessment and service program draw on, in the client's own words. The assessment, the service program, and meeting Connecticut's rules remain the agency's responsibility.

Frequently asked questions

How soon must a Connecticut assisted living client have a service program?

A registered nurse must complete the client service program within seven days of the client's admission to the assisted living services agency, in consultation with the client, family, and others involved in the client's care.

How often are Connecticut assisted living clients reassessed?

RN assessments are completed as often as the client's condition requires, but at least every 120 days. The client service program is reviewed on the same minimum schedule.

Do Connecticut rules require a life history or preferences?

The regulation requires the service program to reflect the client's, representative's, or family's preferences and choices regarding services, and the assessment must cover the client's social status. It does not name life history, hobbies, or routines.

Who is licensed for assisted living in Connecticut?

The Department of Public Health licenses the assisted living services agency, which provides nursing and help with daily living to clients who live in a managed residential community.

What must a Connecticut dementia special care unit disclose?

Under Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-562, a signed written disclosure covering philosophy, admission and discharge, assessment and care planning, staffing and training, physical environment, resident activities, the family role in care, and program costs.