Greensboro Senior AdvisorIs memory care separately licensed in North Carolina?
No. An adult care home that wants to run a dementia unit applies to DHSR for special care unit beds under 10A NCAC 13F .1300, and the approved beds become part of its existing adult care home license; nursing homes can hold special care unit beds the same way.
Across the three counties, 17 adult care homes hold special care unit beds (655 beds in all, from DHSR's October 28, 2026 list), and 4 nursing homes add 66 more.
Because “memory care” on a website carries no legal weight, the special care unit count on DHSR's list is the quickest test of whether a secured dementia program really exists. Our memory care directory is built from that list, not from marketing.
What written disclosure must a Greensboro memory care unit give?
G.S. 131D-8 requires every special care unit to have a disclosure statement, approved as part of DHSR's special care unit process, describing what makes the unit special so families can compare one program with another.
Expect the statement to cover the unit's philosophy and mission, the process and criteria for admission, transfer and discharge, how care plans are developed, staffing and staff training specific to dementia, the physical environment and security features, activities, and the role of families, along with costs. Ask for it before the tour, then hold the tour against it: if the statement promises daily structured activities, ask to see this week's schedule.
Who works inside a special care unit at night?
The rules require staff assigned to the unit and trained in dementia care, but no published staff-to-resident ratio replaces your own question: how many people are physically inside the unit on third shift, and who covers when one of them is helping a resident.
The general adult care home staffing rules (13F .0605 and .0606) still apply to the building as a whole, and the rule that residents are never left without staff applies everywhere. Ask the administrator for the unit's actual third-shift staffing for the past month, whether those workers are regular staff or agency fill-ins, and how the unit's doors and alarms are tested.
How does Special Assistance treat a special care unit?
It pays more: in 2026 State/County Special Assistance pays up to the Enhanced Rate of $1,792 a month for an eligible resident of a special care unit, against the Basic Rate of $1,397 in an ordinary adult care home bed.
Not every unit accepts Special Assistance, and those that do may set aside only a few beds. If a parent's savings may run out, ask how many current residents use Special Assistance and what happens when a private-pay resident converts. The full rules are on our Special Assistance page.
When does a special care unit stop being the right place?
When a resident needs daily skilled nursing that an adult care home is not licensed to give, or when behavior puts the resident or others in danger in ways the unit cannot manage; those are the situations in which a discharge to a nursing home or a different setting follows.
Families are often surprised that a unit can discharge a resident with dementia at all. North Carolina requires written notice and gives residents the right to appeal most discharges, covered on our admission and discharge page. Ask during the tour which specific changes would lead the unit to say it can no longer meet your parent's needs.
Side by side
| A North Carolina special care unit is | A North Carolina special care unit is not | |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Beds approved on a license under 13F .1300 | A license of its own |
| Disclosure | Required in writing by G.S. 131D-8 | Optional marketing |
| Payment | Eligible for Special Assistance's Enhanced Rate | Covered by Medicare |
| Medical care | Supervision and personal care for dementia | A nursing home's skilled care |
Drawn from G.S. Chapter 131D, 10A NCAC 13F and 13G, DHSR and NCDHHS publications, NC Medicaid, CareScout, CMS, the VA and the Piedmont Triad aging agency cited in the text; our editorial standards explain how we check them.
