We exist because the category needed a better default.

The category families encounter first is dominated by national lead brokers. A federal Senate inquiry in 2024 documented that one third of the facilities the largest player recommended had been cited for neglect, that more than half of families paid above the budget they had set, and that a $6 million class-action settlement was paid for calling and texting families without their consent. The story is not unusual for the category. It is the category.

We built California Care Compass to be the alternative most families assume exists when they first start looking. Independent. Specific to California, including the programs (CalAIM, IHSS, Assisted Living Waiver) that the national players do not engage with substantively. The Title 22 inspection record of every facility we recommend is published on its profile, and the fee we receive is disclosed in writing before any tour.

How we work

We focus on two regions. In the Bay Area, we maintain a short list of vetted RCFE and memory-care facilities we have visited in person and continue to monitor against the state inspection record. In Los Angeles County, we focus on connecting families to licensed home-care agencies, elder-law attorneys specializing in Medi-Cal planning, and geriatric care managers. We do not refer to skilled nursing facilities under any circumstance, because that category requires a separate California license we do not hold.

How we source and review

Every long-form article is written and editorially reviewed by the California Care Compass team. Program rules and dollar figures are drawn from the originating state agency — the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), and the California Department of Aging — with the source URL and access date listed on the page. We do not employ in-house licensed clinicians or attorneys, and we do not claim that designation. Where a decision requires one (medical, legal, financial) we say so explicitly and point to the right licensed professional. The editorial policy details the sourcing rules, update cadence, and corrections standard.

Who built this

California Care Compass was built by Assaf Ichaki, who operates the site and the navigation service end to end. The decision to build it came from one observation: most pages families encounter when searching for California senior care costs are either dated, vague, or routed straight into a referral funnel. We publish numbers that are current, sourced, and downloadable, and we put the methodology on the same page as the data.

For press, partnerships, or questions about the founder side of the operation, write to assaf@californiacarecompass.com. Editorial and sourcing questions go to research@californiacarecompass.com.

What we are not

• We are not a licensed referral agency under any specific California statute, because no such license exists for RCFEs. (California Senate Bill 648, which would have created one, was vetoed in 2017.)
• We are not a state agency, government program, or county department.
• We are not affiliated with the California Department of Social Services, the California Department of Public Health, or the California Department of Health Care Services.
• We are not a medical or legal practice. The content here is educational. For medical advice, talk to your parent’s physician. For legal advice, talk to a California-licensed elder law attorney.

Contact

For navigator inquiries, the Care Checker is the fastest path. For disclosure questions, write to disclosure@californiacarecompass.com. For press, press@californiacarecompass.com.