Administrator Certification
Fee Increases for Administrators and Vendors
PIN 21-11-CCLD – (Changes to Administrator Certification Program Fees)
In accordance with Assembly Bill (AB) 135, an increase to the Administrator Certification Program fees is effective July 1, 2023. The fee changes include increases to existing fees for processing Initial and Continuing Education Training Program vendor applications and increases to existing fees for processing new and renewal Administrator certification applications. New fees will be assessed for the ACS exam and vendor course application processing. Refer to PIN 21-11-CCLD for additional information about fee changes.
Update to the ACS Mailing Address
Please be advised that the ACS Mail Station (MS) address has changed:
Community Care Licensing Division
Administrator Certification Section (ACS)
744 P Street, MS 9-15-807
Sacramento, CA 95814
Expiration of Administrator Certification Program Waivers
On October 17, 2022, Governor Newsom issued an announcement that the COVID-19 State of Emergency (SOE) will end on February 28, 2023. As a result, effective March 1, 2023, facilities operating under a waiver pursuant to the SOE are no longer permitted to operate under the CDSS COVID-19 waivers that were extended under the Governor’s Executive Order N-11-22, dated June 17, 2022.
Effective March 1, 2023, prospective and Current Certified Administrators of Adult Residential Facilities; Group Homes; Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly; Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Programs; and Program Training Vendors must resume the following:
- Prospective Administrators must complete an Initial Certification Training Program (ICTP) via Department-approved live training.
- Administrators seeking recertification, must meet the 40-hour continuing education requirement by completing at least 20 hours of in-person courses.
- Current Department-approved Vendors cannot provide Department-approved courses via live-stream that are required to be held in-person. This includes ICTP and Continuing Education Training Program (CETP) course offerings.
Please refer to PIN 22-30-ASC: END OF STATE OF EMERGENCY RELATED TO CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19) AND EXPIRATION OF COVID-19 WAIVERS for additional information.
About ACS
The Administrator Certification Program is legislatively mandated and designed to help ensure that prospective and existing administrators of residential facilities have the requisite initial and continuing training to appropriately care for facility residents. Administrators are individuals designated by licensees to act on behalf of the licensee in the overall management of their facilities. Licensees and administrators may be one and the same person.
The Administrator Certification Program only applies to the following facility types:
- Adult Residential Facilities
- Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (Assisted Living Facilities or Board and Care Homes)
- Group Homes
- Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Programs
The Administrator Certification Program is administered by the Administrator Certification Section (ACS) of the Community Care Licensing Division, Policy, Training and Quality Improvement Branch. The ACS staff process applications for administrator certification and also approve/disapprove training vendors and their proposed courses.
The ACS has developed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) resources for administrator applications, the administrator certification examination, and vendors. If you have any questions regarding fee increases, please submit your questions to the corresponding email address listed below:
Laws and Regulations
Laws re: Administrator Certification (Health & Safety Code 1522.41 for GH and STRTP; 1562.3 for ARF; 1569.616 for RCFE)
Regulations re: Administrator Certification re: Administrators and Vendors
The historical rulemaking file for the regulation updates can be found at: