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The Florida Department of Health works to protect, promote, and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county, and community efforts.

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Group Care

Environmental Public Health - DOH-Charlotte

Rule Revision

In June 2023, Florida Department of Health restarted the rule revision process for Chapter 64E-12, Florida Administrative Code. A notice of development of rulemaking was advertised in the Florida Administrative Register.


Florida Department of Health DOES NOT license any residential group care facilities, provide services for residents seeking placement in Florida, nor provide any type of funding for residential group care.

A group home is a generic term for various types of 24-hour residential group care facilities licensed by one of three other state agencies:

Florida AgencyPhoneLicensing Information
Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA)850-412-4304AHCA lienses homes/facilities serving the elderly, the disabled and crisis stabilization mental health facilities. Locate facility information.
Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF)850-487-1111DCF licenses homes and facilities serving children and inpatient facilities providing drug, alcohol, and mental health services.
Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD)850-488-4257APD licenses homes and facilities serving only individuals with disabilities. Search for providers.

Florida Department of Health receives many inquiries from the public who are looking for information on how to open a group home. Florida Department of Health is not a primary licensing agency for residential group care facilities or group homes. Anyone looking to open a group home should contact one of the three primary licensing agencies listed above to obtain information on how to open or receive a license from that agency.

Florida Department of Health in Charlotte County's (DOH-Charlotte) Group Care Program consists of educational facilities (public, private, and charter schools) and certain residential facilities.

The responsabilities of DOH-Charlotte's Environmental Public Health division vary by type of facility:

Lead government agencies, counties, and municipalities may impose more stringent or frequent inspection requirements and additional fees. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Disaster Preparedness

Disasters can happen at any time of the year. The Group Care Program recommends using the residential Group Care Program Preparedness Toolkit —designed as a customizable preparedness planning tool for any type of residential facility, but especially those serving the disabled and/or vulnerable populations.

The toolkit can assist facility owners, operators, managers, and/or administrators in preparing for and responding to issues that arise as a result of a disaster or emergency. While this toolkit is designed to be as comprehensive as possible, it is not an all inclusive toolkit, but one that can be tailored to each facility by providing a one-stop resource of emergency preparedness forms, procedures, assessments, and checklists.

The assessment questionnaires were created based on identified environmental and public health issues, which were recognized by various national preparedness resources. Using this tool will enable a residential facility to be better prepared and better able to respond in the case of a disaster and be prepared to keep their residents and employees protected. This toolkit is not part of any regulatory standard, but is available and encouraged to be used by anyone who may benefit from it use.