What is the difference between a Type A and a Type B citation in California?
A Type A citation means the state judged a violation an immediate risk to a resident's health, safety or personal rights. A Type B does not create immediate risk. Both are the state's determination, and both stay on the record.
California's Community Care Licensing Division issues citations in two severities, and the difference is not a matter of paperwork volume — it is a judgement about risk.
Type A
A violation the state judged an immediate risk to the health, safety or personal rights of a resident. In practice these cover things like a resident left without required supervision, an unsecured medication cupboard, a missing fire clearance, or access to a hazard. A Type A on a small home is worth asking about directly.
Type B
A violation that does not create immediate risk — an incomplete resident record, a lapsed staff training log, a maintenance item. Type B citations are common, and a home with a couple of them is not, on that basis alone, a home to avoid.
How common each one actually is
| Providers | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| With at least one Type A citation | 2,635 | 15% |
| With at least one Type B citation | 3,310 | 19% |
| With no citations from complaints | 13,390 | 75% |
The trap in the raw number
Citation counts are lifetime figures for the current licence. A home licensed in 2004 has had two decades to accumulate them; one licensed in 2022 has had three years. Comparing the raw totals of two homes without looking at how long each has held its licence will mislead you, which is why every facility page shows the licence start date next to the count.
The state also reports citations separately for complaint investigations, routine inspections and other visits. Its own headline figure counts complaint investigations only. Adding the three together produces a larger number than the state publishes, so we never do — both views appear on each page, labelled.
Figures on this page are computed from California Department of Social Services licensing records and update when the underlying data does. Methodology · Report a correction