How do you check a Michigan adult foster care or home for the aged license?
Search the home's name or city on LARA's statewide adult foster care and homes for the aged search (adultfostercare.apps.lara.state.mi.us), open its facility profile, and confirm the license number, status, capacity and expiration date; LARA also publishes the whole list as a statewide text file it updates daily.
Last verified: October 2026The license number itself tells you the type: it starts with AH for a home for the aged, AF for a family home, AS or AM for small and medium group homes, AL for a large group home and AG for a congregate facility. Every profile on this site links straight to the matching LARA record.
Source: LARA statewide AFC/HFA file
What do Michigan license statuses like temporary and provisional mean?
A regular license is the normal status. A temporary license is issued to a home that has not previously been licensed, before its first regular license; a provisional license is issued when a licensee is temporarily unable to comply with the rules. In our area today, 320 homes hold regular licenses, 13 temporary and 10 provisional.
A temporary license is not a warning sign by itself -- every new home starts with one. A provisional license is: ask the licensee what led to it, what the corrective action plan requires, and when LARA is due back.
What reports does LARA publish for each home?
Each facility profile lists the original and renewal licensing study reports, interim inspection reports done near the midpoint of a license period, and special investigation reports written in response to rule-related complaints.
- Original licensing study -- the inspection before the first license.
- Renewal licensing study -- the periodic re-inspection; it lists any rules found violated and ends with a recommendation.
- Interim inspection -- a check near the middle of the license period.
- Special investigation report (SIR) -- a complaint investigation, allegation by allegation, each marked established or not.
LARA's definitions also describe a Notice of Finding, a written document for a minor or isolated incident of noncompliance that does not cause or risk more than minimal harm or indicate a breakdown in the facility's systems.
What does the 'rule violations within last year' flag mean?
It is a yes/no field in LARA's statewide file. Of the 343 homes we track, 83 currently show yes -- meaning LARA recorded at least one rule violation for the home within the past year.
The flag cannot tell you whether the violation was a missing staff training record or a resident left unattended. Open the reports. A home with one paperwork citation and a home with three established neglect allegations both show the same yes.
