In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, the words, phrases
and symbols set forth herein shall mean the following:
(a) “Activities of daily living” means bathing, shaving, brushing teeth, combing hair, toileting, dressing,
eating, laundering, cleaning room, managing money, writing letters, shopping, using public transportation,
making telephone calls, grooming, obtaining appointments, engaging in leisure and recreational activities,
or other similar activities;
(b) “Administrator” means the manager designated by the Governing Body as responsible for the dayto-day
management, administration and supervision of the Personal Care Home, who may also serve as
on-site manager and responsible staff person except during periods of his or her own absence;
(c) “Ambulatory Resident” means a resident who has the ability to move from place to place by walking,
either unaided or aided by prosthesis, brace, cane, crutches, walker or hand rails, or by propelling a
wheelchair; who can respond to an emergency condition, whether caused by fire or otherwise, and
escape with minimal human assistance such as guiding a resident to an exit, using the normal means of
egress;
(d) “Applicant” means:
1. When the personal care home is owned by a sole proprietorship, the individual proprietor shall be
the applicant for the license, complete the statement of responsibility and serve as the licensee;
2. When the personal care home is owned by a partnership, the general partners shall be the applicant
for the license, complete the statement of responsibility and serve as the licensee;
3. When the personal care home is owned by an association limited liability company (LLC), the
governing body of the association or LLC shall authorize the application for the license and complete the
statement of responsibility and the association shall serve as the licensee; and
4. When the personal care home is owned by a corporation, the governing body of the corporation
shall authorize the application for the license and complete the statement of responsibility and the
corporation shall serve as the licensee.
(e) “Chemical Restraint” means a psychopharmacologic drug that is used for discipline or convenience
and not required to treat medical symptoms;
(f) “Criminal history background check” means a search as required by law of the criminal records
maintained by law enforcement authorities to determine whether the applicant has a criminal record as
defined in these rules and applicable laws.
(g) “Criminal record” means:
1. conviction of a crime; or
2. arrest, charge, and sentencing for a crime where:
(i) a plea of nolo contendere was entered to the charge; or
(ii) first offender treatment without adjudication of guilt pursuant to the charge was granted; or
(iii) adjudication or sentence was otherwise withheld or not entered on the charge; or
(iv) arrest and being charged for a crime if the charge is pending, unless the time for prosecuting such
crime has expired pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 17-3-1 et seq.
(h) “Department” means the Department of Community Health of the State of Georgia;
(i) “Director” means the chief administrator, executive officer or manager.
(j) “Disabled adult” means an adult who is developmentally impaired or who suffers from dementia or
some other cognitive impairment.
(k) “Employee” means any person, other than a director, utilized by a personal care home to provide
personal services to any resident on behalf of the personal care home or to perform at any facilities of the
personal care home any duties which involve personal contact between that person and any paying
resident of the personal care home.
(l) “Fingerprint records check determination” means a satisfactory or unsatisfactory determination by the
department based upon a records check comparison of Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC)
information with fingerprints and other information in a records check application.
(m) “Governing Body” means the board of trustees or directors, the partnership, the corporation, the
association, or the person or group of persons who maintain and control the home and who are legally
responsible for the operation of the home;
(n) “Legal Surrogate” means a duly appointed person who is authorized to act, within the scope of the
authority granted under the legal surrogate’s appointment, on behalf of a resident who is adjudicated or
certified incapacitated. The legal surrogate may act on a resident’s behalf where a resident has not been
adjudicated as incapacitated provided that the action is consistent with the resident’s wishes and intent
and is within the scope of the authority granted. Where such authority is exercised pursuant to a Power of
Attorney executed by a resident, the facility must maintain a copy of this document in the resident’s files.
The resident’s duly appointed legal surrogate(s) shall have the authority to act on the resident’s behalf as
established by written applicable federal and state of Georgia law, and shall be entitled to receive
information relevant to the exercise of his or her authority. No member of the governing body,
administration, or staff of the personal care home or affiliated personal care homes or their family
members may serve as the legal surrogate for a resident;
(o) “Local law enforcement agency” means a local law enforcement agency with authorization to
conduct criminal history background checks through the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC).
(p) “Medical services” means services which may be provided by a person licensed under the Medical
Practice Act O.C.G.A. § 43-34-20 et seq.;
(q) “Memory care services” means the additional watchful oversight systems and devices that are
required for residents who have cognitive deficits which may impact memory, language, thinking,
reasoning, or impulse control, and which place the residents at risk of eloping, i.e. engaging in unsafe
wandering activities outside the home.
(r) “Memory care unit” means the specialized unit or home that either holds itself out as providing
additional or specialized care to persons with diagnoses of probable Alzheimer’s Disease or other
dementia who may be at risk of engaging in unsafe wandering activities outside the unit or home
(eloping) or charges rates in excess of those charged other residents because of cognitive deficits which
may place the residents at risk of eloping.
(s) “Non-Family Adult” means a resident 18 years of age or older who is not related by blood within the
third degree of consanguinity or by marriage to the person responsible for the management of the
personal care home or to a member of the governing body;
(t) “Nursing services” means those services which may be rendered by a person licensed under the
(u) “On-site manager” means the administrator or person designated by the administrator as
responsible for carrying on the day-to-day management, supervision, and operation of the personal care
home, who may also serve as responsible staff person except during periods of his or her own absence;
(v) “Owner” means any individual or any person affiliated with a corporation, partnership, or association
with 10 percent or greater ownership interest in the business or agency licensed as a personal care home
and who:
1. purports to or exercises authority of an owner in the business or agency; or
2. applies to operate or operates the business or agency; or
3. maintains an office on the premises of the facility; or
4. resides at the facility; or
5. has direct access to persons receiving care at the facility; or
6. provides direct personal supervision of facility personnel by being immediately available to provide
assistance and direction during the time such facility services are being provided; or
7. enters into a contract to acquire ownership of such a business or agency.
(w) “Permit” or “Regular Permit” means the authorization granted by the Department to the governing
body to operate a Personal Care Home;
(x) “Personal Care Home” means any dwelling, whether operated for profit or not, which undertakes
through its ownership or management to provide or arrange for the provision of housing, food service,
and one or more personal services for two or more adults who are not related to the owner or
administrator by blood or marriage;
(y) “Personal Services” includes, but is not limited to, individual assistance with or supervision of self-administered
medication, assistance with ambulation and transfer, and essential activities of daily living
such as eating, bathing, grooming, dressing, and toileting;
(z) “Physical Restraints” are any manual or physical device, material, or equipment attached or adjacent
to the resident’s body that the individual cannot remove easily which restricts freedom or normal access
to one’s body. Physical restraints include, but are not limited to, leg restraints, arm restraints, hand mitts,
soft ties or vests, and wheelchair safety bars. Also included as restraints are facility practices which
function as a restraint, such as tucking in a sheet so tightly that a bedbound resident cannot move,
bedrails, or chairs that prevent rising, or placing a wheelchair-bound resident so close to a wall that the
wall prevents the resident from rising. Wrist bands or devices on clothing that trigger electronic alarms to
warn staff that a resident is leaving a room do not, in and of themselves, restrict freedom of movement
and should not be considered as restraints;
(aa) “Plan of Correction” means a plan for correcting deficiencies in meeting rules and regulations of
the Department of Community Health;
(bb) “Preliminary records check application” means an application for a preliminary records check
determination on forms provided by the department.
(cc) “Preliminary records check determination” means a satisfactory or unsatisfactory determination by
the department based only upon a comparison of Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) information
with other than fingerprint information regarding the person upon whom the records check is being
performed.
(dd) “Provides” means that the home makes personal services available to the residents. A home which
represents itself by advertising or verbal communication that is provides personal assistance is deemed
to make personal services available to its residents for the purposes of these Rules;
(ee) “Provisional Permit” means authorization granted by the Department to a governing body to
operate a personal care home on a conditional basis;
(ff) “Records check application” means two sets of classifiable fingerprints, a records search fee to be
established by the department by rule and regulation, payable in such form as the department may direct
to cover the cost of a fingerprint records check, and an affidavit by the applicant disclosing the nature and
date of any arrest, charge, or conviction of the applicant for the violation of any law; except for motor
vehicle parking violations, whether or not the violation occurred in this state, and such additional
information as the department may require.
(gg) “Representative” means a person who voluntarily, with the resident’s written authorization, may act
upon resident’s direction with regard to matters concerning the health and welfare of the resident,
including being able to access personal records contained in the resident’s file and receive information
and notices pertaining to the resident’s overall care and condition. No member of the governing body,
administration, or staff of the personal care home or affiliated personal care homes or their family
members may serve as the representative for a resident;
(hh) “Resident” means any non-family adult receiving personal assistance and residing in a personal
care home;
(ii) “Responsible Staff Person” means the employee designated by the administrator or on-site manager
as responsible for supervising the operation of the home during periods of temporary absence of the
administrator or on-site manager;
(jj) “Satisfactory criminal history background check determination” means a written determination that a
person for whom a records check was performed was found to have no criminal record an arrest, charge
or conviction of one of the covered crimes outlined in O.C.G.A. § 31-7-250 et seq, if applicable, or as
outlined in O.C.G.A. § 31-2-14, if applicable.
(kk) “Supportive Services” means specific services which are provided to the resident in the community
or reasonably requested by a resident including but not limited to: mental health services, habilitation,
rehabilitation, social services, medical, dental, and other health care services, education, financial
management, legal services, vocational services, transportation, recreational and leisure activities; and
other services required to meet a resident’s needs.
(ll) “Unsatisfactory criminal history background check determination” means a written determination that
a person for whom a records check was performed has a criminal record which indicates an arrest,
charge or conviction of one of the covered crimes outlined in O.C.G.A. § 31-7-250 et seq, if applicable, or
as outlined in O.C.G.A. § 31-2-14, if applicable.