Dear Adult Family Home Provider,

The Senate Ways and Means Committee has asked the Adult Family Home Council to provide information about how many adult family homes and live-in caregiver employees may be affected by the recent Washington Supreme Court decision in Bolina v. AssureCare.

On July 9, 2026, the Washington Supreme Court affirmed that the former live-in worker exemption under Washington’s Minimum Wage Act is unconstitutional as applied to live-in caregivers working in adult family homes. The case is being returned to King County Superior Court for additional proceedings. The courts have not yet determined whether any payment obligations will apply retroactively or only prospectively.

AFHC is conducting this survey to develop a reliable estimate of:

1. How many licensed adult family homes currently employ live-in caregivers.

2. How many live-in caregiver employees may be affected.

3. How many homes previously employed live-in caregivers and could be affected if the ruling is applied retroactively.

4. The potential fiscal and operational impact on providers, Medicaid residents, and the adult family home system.

Please submit one separate response for each licensed adult family home.

Each survey response should include information for only one licensed home.

For example, if you own or operate five licensed adult family homes, please submit five separate survey responses. Do not combine staffing, residents, beds, or financial information from multiple homes into a single response.

Confidentiality of your information

This survey is intended only to help AFHC gather data about the potential impact of the Supreme Court ruling. AFHC will use provider and home information internally to verify responses, prevent duplicate submissions, and contact providers if clarification is needed.

AFHC will report the survey results only in aggregate and will remove provider-identifying information from any reports, presentations, legislative materials, or public communications.

AFHC will not provide your name, phone number, adult family home name, license number, individual survey responses, or other identifying information to legislators, state agencies, the media, or other outside parties without first consulting you and receiving your permission.

Thank you for helping AFHC provide accurate information about the effect of this decision on adult family homes, employees, and residents.

Adult Family Home Live-In Caregiver Impact Survey

Important instructions

Please complete one separate survey response for each licensed adult family home you own or operate.

This survey response should include information for only the adult family home identified by its name and license number in this response.

• If you operate one licensed home, submit one response.
• If you operate five licensed homes, submit five separate responses.
• Do not combine information from multiple homes into one response.
• After submitting a response for one home, please return to the survey link and complete another response for each additional licensed home.

Purpose of the survey

The purpose of this survey is to estimate the number of adult family homes and live-in caregiver employees potentially affected by the Washington Supreme Court’s decision in Bolina v. AssureCare.

The survey will also help AFHC estimate the potential fiscal and operational effect of the ruling on individual homes, Medicaid residents, employees, and the adult family home system.

This survey is being conducted for legislative, budget, collective bargaining, and policy purposes. It is not a legal compliance audit, and a provider’s response does not determine whether any particular period is compensable or whether the provider owes wages.

Confidentiality and use of survey information

AFHC is collecting provider and home information to verify that each response represents one licensed adult family home, prevent duplicate responses, and contact providers if clarification is necessary.

Survey responses will be treated as confidential. AFHC will:

• Analyze and report survey results in aggregate.
• Remove provider-identifying information from external reports and presentations.
• Use the information only to assess the potential impact of the ruling and support related legislative, budget, bargaining, and policy efforts.
• Contact the provider before sharing any provider-specific information or individual impact statement.

AFHC will not provide your name, phone number, adult family home name, license number, individual responses, or other identifying information to any outside person or organization without first consulting you and receiving your permission.

Please do not include the names of employees or residents, Social Security numbers, medical information, individual wage records, or other personally identifiable information in your responses.

Survey definition

For purposes of this survey, a live-in caregiver employee is an employee whose job requires or regularly involves one or more of the following:

• Living or sleeping at an adult family home.
• Remaining at the home overnight.
• Remaining on the premises for extended periods while available to respond to resident needs.
• Providing resident care, supervision, emergency coverage, or overnight coverage while residing or sleeping at the home.