How we write, review, source, and correct.

Authorship and the team-byline policy

Every long-form article on California Care Compass is written and editorially reviewed by the California Care Compass team. We do not employ in-house licensed clinicians, attorneys, or financial planners, and we do not claim that designation. Where a decision requires one we say so on the page and point to the right professional: a treating physician for clinical questions, a California-licensed elder-law attorney for legal questions, a Medi-Cal county eligibility worker or HICAP counselor for program-eligibility questions.

We publish under a deliberate team byline rather than under an individual reporter’s name. The reason is accountability: every page is reviewed against the underlying state-agency record before publication, and the editorial team, not an individual byline, owns the correctness of what ships. If a family makes a decision based on a CCC page and the page is wrong, the team owns that, no matter who first drafted it. This policy is also published as our schema.org noBylinesPolicy.

Every long-form article goes through a second editorial pass before publication: source verification, plain-language readability, and a check against the latest version of the relevant state agency record.

Sourcing

Every numeric or regulatory claim cites a primary source. We use five tiers, in this order:

1. California state agency publications (DHCS, CDA, CDSS, CDPH).
2. Federal agency publications (CMS, AHRQ, HHS).
3. Peer-reviewed academic sources (PubMed-indexed journals).
4. Major nonpartisan policy organizations (California Health Care Foundation, Justice in Aging, KFF, LAO).
5. Industry analyst data with disclosed methodology (Genworth Cost of Care, AHCA / NCAL surveys).

Sources are listed at the end of every long-form article, with publisher name, title, URL, and the date the link was last verified. We do not cite commercial competitors as sources. We do not cite the press as a primary source for regulatory claims.

Update cadence

Every article displays a published date and an updated date. Long-form articles are reviewed for accuracy at least every six months, or sooner when a relevant regulatory change occurs (CalAIM policy update, IHSS rate change, Medi-Cal eligibility revision, county program elections). Articles that have not been re-reviewed within 12 months are flagged on-page and deprioritized in our recommendations until refreshed.

Corrections

When we discover a factual error in published content, we correct it as soon as we can confirm the correction with a primary source. We add a brief corrections note to the bottom of the affected article describing what was wrong and when it was corrected. We do not silently rewrite published content.

To report an error, write to editorial@californiacarecompass.com. We acknowledge corrections requests within two business days.

AI and content tools

We use AI tools (LLMs, image-generation, transcription) in production. Every long-form article is reviewed by a human editor against primary sources before publication. AI-generated images and AI-generated audio summaries are labeled. We never invent quotes from named individuals.

Independence

No facility, agency, or partner pays for editorial coverage, placement, or favorable ranking on this site. Facility profiles are listed when the facility appears in the relevant state registry, regardless of whether the facility has a referral agreement with us. Facilities with active referral agreements are labeled with a Disclosed badge. Facilities without an agreement are not penalized in editorial coverage.

What we will not publish

• Specific medical advice (dosing, treatment, diagnosis).
• Specific legal advice (estate planning, conservatorship strategy, Medi-Cal asset structuring beyond general explanation).
• Anything that promises eligibility or placement outcomes.
• Editorial content attributed to a person who did not author or review it. Every article is attributed to the California Care Compass editorial team.
• Sponsored or advertorial content of any kind.