An Adult Family Home is a private home where 3 or 4 unrelated adults reside and receive care, including up to 7 hours per week of nursing care per resident, licensed by the DHS Bureau of Assisted Living. Smaller 1-2 bed adult family homes are regulated separately, under DHS's Division of Medicaid Services rather than DQA licensing.
What this means in practice
An AFH is the smallest, most home-like licensed residential option in Wisconsin's system, sitting between fully independent in-home care and a larger CBRF in both scale and the amount of nursing care allowed. Because the 1-2 bed version of an adult family home is regulated through a different DHS division than the 3-4 bed version, the verification path differs depending on the home's exact size -- a detail easy to miss if you assume every 'adult family home' listing is checked the same way. If you're considering a small home-based option in the Milwaukee metro, ask directly which regulatory track it falls under and confirm current licensing status before moving forward.
Related questions
- Does Wisconsin have one 'assisted living license' like some other states?
- What is a CBRF in Wisconsin?
- What is an RCAC and how is it different from a CBRF?
- Does a Wisconsin nursing home need a different license than assisted living?
- How do I check whether a Milwaukee-area facility's license is current?
- Who licenses and regulates senior care facilities in Wisconsin?
- What happens if I have a complaint about a Milwaukee-area facility's care?
