How to Vet a Senior-Care Referral Service

What a 2026 investigation found

A Washington Post investigation, as reported by McKnight’s Senior Living, examined A Place for Mom’s “Best of Senior Living” awards and found that 324 of 863 award recipients — 37.5% — had been cited for violations, including medication errors, bedsores, falls, staff misconduct, and hazard exposure. Multiple current and former sales managers at senior living chains told the Post that facilities across the industry “routinely manipulate reviews” by soliciting feedback only from satisfied families, or by requesting fake ones. A U.S. senator publicly called the practices “potentially deceptive” and warned they could put referred residents “in jeopardy.”

Why this happens

Most large placement services are paid by the facility you move into, usually a commission equal to a month or more of rent. That doesn’t make the person on the phone dishonest, but it does mean the incentive is to get you placed — not necessarily to steer you toward the community with the cleanest record. Awards, star ratings, and curated reviews can look like independent research when they’re actually part of the same paid relationship.

Questions to ask any referral service

• Are you paid by the facilities you recommend, and how much?
• How do you decide which communities to show me first?
• Can you show me this facility’s actual state licensing and inspection record — not just reviews or an award?
• Will you put your fee arrangement in writing? California law (AB 2744) requires a referral service to disclose, in writing, any commission it receives before making a referral.

Check the record yourself, regardless of who’s helping

Whoever helps you search, the state’s own record is the one thing that isn’t curated. Every facility on SacramentoCare Directory links directly to its official licensing page — see Understanding a facility’s license for how to read it. If a referral service can’t or won’t show you that record, ask why.