The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) is a department under the California Health and Human Services Agency. It has 51 offices throughout the state, 48 county welfare departments, offices, and a host of community-based organizations. CDSS is committed to its mission of “providing aid, services, and protection to needy children and adults in ways that strengthen and preserve families, encourage personal responsibility, and foster independence."

The Dementia Care in Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFEs) is a package to support person-centered care for residents and for them to remain in the RCFE. The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) updated its regulation package effective on January 1, 2025. In the CDSS website, the key updates in dementia care are:

• Focus on Resident Behaviors

The updates in the regulation now address the behavior of the residents, regardless of diagnosis, with a focus on a person's behavioral expressions and individual needs. The development in the regulation is focused on having a person-centered care.

• Access to Items based on Individual Need

All residents, regardless of diagnosis, may or may not be allowed to specify items based on their individual need and appraisal. 

• Modernized Language

The definitions are modernized to align with how experts use the terms in dementia care and the use of neutral, objective language to describe a condition that implies potential inability or negative effects of the condition.

• Integrated Standards

The modernized regulations allowed the standards of dementia care to be integrated into several sections in order to support care for all residents.

• Miscellaneous Changes 

The updated regulations also include waste containers, medical assessments, firearms, slip-resistant mats, strips or flooring, and bedridden. 

The flyer of the CDSS Dementia Care updated regulation can be accessed here. This will also be distributed by Licensing Program Analysts (LPAs) on their upcoming facility visits. This update in the regulation ensures that the residents are given quality care and experts are better equipped to modernized standards. 

If you want to learn more about the Dementia Care in Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFEs) and the changes in its regulation, you can read more on the CDSS website.