Lakeland Senior AdvisorBy Lakeland Senior Advisor Care Team · September 8, 2026
Section 429.076 will require a memory care services license for any Florida ALF that serves or advertises memory care once AHCA adopts rules, due by June 1, 2027. In Polk County 18 of 43 licensed ALFs report a memory care program on their AHCA profiles. Ask each one whether it will apply, who is awake overnight, and what dementia training its current staff have completed.
What the 2026 law actually changes
Until this year, a Florida assisted living facility could describe a wing as memory care without any separate permission from the state. Chapter 2026-102, Laws of Florida, created section 429.076 of the Florida Statutes, and with it a memory care services license that sits on top of a facility's ordinary ALF license. Once the Agency for Health Care Administration adopts the implementing rules, any ALF that serves memory care residents, or advertises memory care, dementia care or Alzheimer's care, will need that license.
The statute gives AHCA until June 1, 2027 to write the rules. Facilities licensed before the rules take effect then have six months to obtain the new license. Facilities licensed after that point need it before they admit a memory care resident. In the meantime, the older standard in section 429.178 still governs ALFs that advertise special care for Alzheimer's disease, and that section is repealed when the new rules are adopted.
How many Polk County facilities this affects
Florida's facility profiles let each ALF report whether it runs a memory care program. In Polk County, 18 of the 43 licensed assisted living facilities report one, and between them they are licensed for 1,484 residents. Those beds are not all memory care beds; the profile reports a program, not a count of secured units.
| City | ALFs reporting memory care | Total licensed beds at those ALFs |
|---|---|---|
| Lakeland | 8 | 516 |
| Winter Haven | 5 | 533 |
| Lake Wales | 2 | 66 |
| Champions Gate | 1 | 224 |
| Haines City | 1 | 109 |
| Bartow | 1 | 36 |
17 of them are licensed for 17 or more residents, the size at which s. 429.178 already requires an awake staff member at all hours for facilities that advertise Alzheimer's care. The smallest homes on the list fall below that threshold, which means the current law lets them use monitoring devices rather than an awake caregiver overnight.
What the rules must contain
The statute tells AHCA what the rules must cover: admission criteria for memory care residents, minimum services and activities, staff training at or above the dementia training required by section 430.5025, physical plant standards for a safe environment, what the resident contract must say about memory care services, and at least one staff member awake at all hours. That last requirement is a floor for the building; it is not a staffing ratio, and it does not require a nurse on the unit.
The law also reserves a list of marketing phrases for licensed facilities: memory care, memory care facility, memory care services, memory care residents, dementia care, dementia care facility, Alzheimer's care and Alzheimer's care facility. An unlicensed facility may still describe the supportive services it gives residents who have dementia, provided it avoids those phrases and keeps copies of its advertisements for AHCA to review at renewal.
The risk for families choosing now
The provision that should get a family's attention is the one for facilities that do not obtain the license. A facility already serving memory care residents when the rules take effect may keep them only if it shows AHCA it cannot reasonably get licensed, tells residents and caregivers in writing that they may move to a licensed facility, helps them find one on request, stops admitting new memory care residents, and amends each remaining resident's contract to describe what it will provide.
In practice, a parent placed in late 2026 in a building that does not plan to apply could find the building closed to new memory care admissions within a year or two, and the family could face a second move. That is the reason to ask the question directly, and to get the answer in writing if you can.
What to ask on the tour
Start with the license question: does the facility intend to apply for the s. 429.076 memory care services license, and has it begun preparing? Then ask whether it currently advertises special Alzheimer's care under s. 429.178, which tells you which standard applies today.
Ask how many staff are awake on the memory care wing between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., not in the building as a whole. Ask what share of the caregivers on this month's schedule have completed the dementia training, rather than whether the training is offered. And ask for the full monthly price for memory care in writing, because no Florida or Polk County memory care median is published and quotes are built differently from one building to the next.
Finally, read the inspection history. 8 of the larger Polk County ALFs have a dementia-training tag (ZZ875) somewhere in their posted AHCA history. A single old citation that was corrected says little; a repeat says more. Our facility pages list every posted visit and tag.
Frequently asked questions
Does memory care need a separate license in Florida now?
Not until AHCA's rules take effect; the deadline for the rules is June 1, 2027, and existing facilities then have six months to obtain the license.
Is the AHCA memory care flag proof of a memory care unit?
No. It is program information the facility reports on its profile, so treat it as a list of places to ask, not as verification.
Will the new law set a staff-to-resident ratio?
The statute requires at least one awake staff member at all hours; it does not set a numeric ratio, so ask each facility about its own overnight staffing.
Where can we see which Polk County ALFs report memory care?
Our memory care roster lists every Polk County ALF that reports a program, with beds, the latest survey and fines.
