Georgia group homes · Made to order · Founding price
Starting a group home in Georgia? Here is the license, and the manual it requires.
In Georgia, a group home for adults is licensed as a Personal Care Home (PCH) under Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Chapter 111-8-62. The rules mandate 36 distinct written policies, plans, agreements and records, and the state does not supply them. We build your manual to the rule, citation by citation, delivered in 3 business days, fully refundable.
- Full refund anytime before delivery
- Delivered in 3 business days
- Built from your state's own .gov citations
A business document, not legal advice.
$199 one-time. Group-home consultants charge $1,000 to $4,000 for the same documents.
Who needs the Georgialicense, and who doesn’t
“Group home” covers several very different legal paths in Georgia. Getting on the right one is step zero, before any application or manual.
- You need a PCH license if you will provide housing, meals, and at least one personal service (help with bathing, dressing, grooming, or similar daily activities) to 2 or more adults not related to you (r. 111-8-62-.03(bb)).
- Room and board only, with no personal services, generally falls outside the PCH definition. Confirm your service list with HFRD before relying on that line, because getting caught operating an unlicensed PCH triggers a $550 involuntary application fee plus enforcement.
- Homes serving adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities through DBHDD-funded services are a different framework: the Community Living Arrangement license under Ch. 290-9-37. The PCH chapter expressly exempts them (r. 111-8-62-.04(2)(e), (i)), and this manual does not cover CLAs.
- At 25+ beds the requirements step up sharply: a state-licensed long-term care administrator, a Certificate of Need determination, a CPA affidavit of financial stability, and higher staffing minimums. Most first-time owners start under 25 beds.
Which license does your home need, and which policies come with it?
Answer three questions and get the license your state’s rules point to, with the written policies that license requires, each tied to its rule citation.
Informational tool based on each state’s current rules, not legal advice and not a licensing determination. Confirm your service mix with the licensing agency.
How Georgia group home licensing works
In Georgia, what most people call a group home for adults is licensed as a Personal Care Home under Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Chapter 111-8-62, administered by the Department of Community Health’s Healthcare Facility Regulation Division. The license is triggered early: providing housing, food service, and even one personal service to two or more unrelated adults makes the home a PCH. Georgia does not hand applicants a policy manual. Instead, the application packet includes a notarized Affidavit of Compliance in which you swear the policies and procedures mandated by the chapter have been developed and will be implemented immediately, and surveyors may sanction deficient policies under Chapter 111-8-25.
- 1Form your legal entity with the Georgia Secretary of State, secure the property (deed or lease), and resolve local zoning approval for the home’s address (r. 111-8-62-.05(7)).
- 2Pass the physical-plant inspections the application requires: a fire safety inspection report dated within 12 months showing capacity (sprinkler system required at 7+ beds), an electrical inspection by a Georgia-licensed electrician within 6 months, and water/sewage approval.
- 3Prepare the floor sketch the application requires: every room, bedroom measurements, doors, windows, and bed placement (r. 111-8-62-.05(4)). Bedrooms must give each resident 80 square feet of usable floor space with a maximum of 4 residents per bedroom (r. 111-8-62-.12(6)).
- 4Complete GCHEXS fingerprint background checks with satisfactory determination letters for the administrator and every owner with a 10% or greater interest (r. 111-8-62-.09(7)-(9); Ch. 111-8-12).
- 5Apply online through the GAHLES portal (gahles.dch.georgia.gov): the electronic owner form, the notarized affidavit of personal identification, and the $300 application fee plus the annual license fee. Incomplete applications are not acted on (r. 111-8-62-.05(2)).
- 6Sign the notarized Affidavit of Compliance swearing that the policies and procedures mandated under Chapter 111-8-62 have been developed and will be implemented immediately. This is the step your written P&P manual must exist for, before you operate.
- 7Host HFRD’s inspection and correct any violations with a written Plan of Correction within 10 days of the inspection report (r. 111-8-62-.11(2)). No admissions before the permit is issued (r. 111-8-62-.05(10)), and once licensed, expect unannounced compliance inspections roughly every 11 to 15 months.
Timeline: DCH publishes no processing deadline. The practical gating items are the fire marshal inspection, GCHEXS background determinations and zoning, and once licensed, unannounced compliance inspections run roughly every 11 to 15 months.
The policies Georgia requires in your manual
These are the written policies the Georgia Department of Community Health, Healthcare Facility Regulation Division (HFRD) checks, each tied to the rule that requires it. Your manual covers every one in Georgia-specific language, organized so a surveyor can trace each policy to its citation.
Services offered, admissions, discharges and immediate-transfer policies, so the home never admits or retains residents needing more care than it is authorized to provide
Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 111-8-62-.07(3)(a)-(b)
Refund policy for transfers and discharges, which must also appear in the admission agreement
r. 111-8-62-.07(3)(c), .16(1)(f)
Staff training and ongoing evaluation policies, including specialized training where memory care or proxy caregivers are used
r. 111-8-62-.07(3)(d)
House rules: written, posted in the home, and covering tobacco/alcohol, phone, visitors, pets and personal property
r. 111-8-62-.07(3)(e), .16(1)(h)
Residents’ rights protection policies, with a signed copy of the Resident’s Bill of Rights at admission
r. 111-8-62-.07(3)(f), .25
Medication management and procurement policies, the named subject of mandated staff training
r. 111-8-62-.07(3)(g), .20(3)(a)
Infection control program including work and return-to-work rules, food-borne illness and reportable disease procedures
r. 111-8-62-.07(3)(h), .23(4)
Abuse, neglect and exploitation investigation and reporting procedures, plus wandering, accident and change-in-condition response
r. 111-8-62-.07(3)(i), .30
Emergency preparedness policies with drills and evacuation plans posted on each floor, aligned to the written Disaster Preparedness Plan chapter
r. 111-8-62-.07(3)(k), .08(4), .13(16)(b)
Staffing plan reflecting resident needs, with planned and actual monthly work schedules retained for one year
r. 111-8-62-.07(3)(p), .10(4)-(5)
Written admission agreement containing the 13 mandated elements, from itemized charges and refund terms to the social-media policy and the medication-handling disclosure
r. 111-8-62-.16(1)(a)-(m)
Resident needs assessment at admission, updated as conditions change
r. 111-8-62-.17(8)
Elopement policies and procedures, including the Mattie’s Call alert actions and current photographs of at-risk residents
r. 111-8-62-.18(1)-(2), .30
Medication Assistance Records kept daily per resident, with a locked controlled-substances box and daily-updated log
r. 111-8-62-.20(8), .20(11)(a)
Resident file contents, including monetary transaction records and National Sex Offender Registry search results with any resulting safety plan, retained 3 years after discharge
r. 111-8-62-.24(2), .24(4)
Serious incident reporting: Mattie’s Call to police within 30 minutes, and serious incidents to the Department within 24 hours
r. 111-8-62-.30(1)-(3)
Informational summary of what Georgia regulations require, not legal advice. Citations are provided so you can verify each against the source; confirm current requirements with the Georgia Department of Community Health, Healthcare Facility Regulation Division (HFRD).
See what you actually get
A finished, formatted manual organized to the rule, not a generic national template. A page from your Georgia manual:
Contents: required policies
Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 111-8-62-.07(3)(a)-(b) Services offered, admissions, discharges and immediate-transfer policies, so the home never admits or retains residents needing more care than it is authorized to provide
r. 111-8-62-.07(3)(c), .16(1)(f) Refund policy for transfers and discharges, which must also appear in the admission agreement
r. 111-8-62-.07(3)(d) Staff training and ongoing evaluation policies, including specialized training where memory care or proxy caregivers are used
r. 111-8-62-.07(3)(e), .16(1)(h) House rules: written, posted in the home, and covering tobacco/alcohol, phone, visitors, pets and personal property
Key Georgia facts to know before you apply
Two residents triggers the license
A PCH is any dwelling providing housing, food and one or more personal services to two or more adults unrelated to the owner or administrator (r. 111-8-62-.03(bb)). Operating without a permit is prohibited (.05(10)), and getting caught adds a $550 involuntary application fee.
You swear you wrote the policies
Georgia’s application packet includes a notarized Affidavit of Compliance: you swear the mandated policies and procedures have been developed and will be implemented immediately, and the packet warns that deficient policies may subject the facility to sanctions under Ch. 111-8-25. The state checks your manual; it does not supply one.
The old family/group/congregate labels are gone
Current rules never use the family (2-6), group (7-15), congregate (16+) taxonomy that most older guides still teach. Today’s thresholds are 7 beds (sprinkler system, per the application checklist) and 25 beds (licensed LTC administrator, Certificate of Need determination, CPA financial affidavit, higher night staffing).
Rules amended May 21, 2025
Rules .03, .04, .10, .16 and .19 were amended effective May 21, 2025 (medical-alert-system staffing flexibility and a new admission-agreement disclosure for post-July-2025 admissions). Any manual or template written before mid-2025 is already stale on these.
Staffing floors, not ceilings
Under 25 beds: at least 1 awake direct-care staffer per 15 residents during waking hours and 1 per 25 non-waking (r. 111-8-62-.10(1)), someone responsible on premises 24/7, first aid and CPR certification within 60 days of hire, and 16 hours of continuing education per year for all direct-care staff including the administrator.
State fees (verify current)
$300 application processing plus a $350 annual license fee under 25 beds ($750 for 25-50 beds), per the fee schedule at Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 111-8-25-.03(8) as amended effective March 10, 2025. Fees are non-refundable.
A fraction of the start-up consultant’s price.
Group-home consultants and course sellers charge $1,000 to $4,000 for these documents. Every manual is made to order: built from your facility details, organized to your state’s rules, and delivered within 3 business days, with a full refund anytime before delivery.
Group Home P&P Manual
Founding price$199one-time
Founding price · $249 after the first 25 agencies
A complete written policy & procedure manual built to your state's group home licensing rules, with the rule citation next to every policy, ready for your application and survey.
- Every mandated policy, keyed to its rule citation
- Admission agreement with your state's required elements
- Medication, infection-control & emergency procedures
- Incident, abuse-reporting & records policies surveyors check
- Editable Word + PDF, organized to your state's rule chapter
Policy Updates
$99/yr
Rules change: Georgia amended its chapter in May 2025, Texas in September 2024, and Ohio renamed its licensing agency in October 2025. We track your state and send updated policy language when the rules move.
- Annual re-verification of every citation in your manual
- Updated policy language if your state's rules change
- Annual policy-review and re-attestation reminders
Delivered within 3 business days, with a full refund anytime before delivery. This is a self-prepared operational document you adopt for your own facility, not legal advice, and not a guarantee of license approval.
Georgia group home licensing FAQ
Sources
- rules.sos.ga.gov/gac/111-8-62
- dch.georgia.gov/divisionsoffices/hfrd/facilities-provider-information/personal-care-homes
- dch.georgia.gov/document/document/personal-care-home-application-packet/download
- www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/georgia/Ga-Comp-R-Regs-R-111-8-62-.01
Georgia requirements last reviewed 2026-07-07. Regulations change, so verify current requirements with the Georgia Department of Community Health, Healthcare Facility Regulation Division (HFRD) before relying on them.