Community Services Licensure and Certification

MORATORIUM ON NEW RCF LICENSED BEDS

Effective July 1, 2005, the Arkansas Department of Health has issued a moratorium on new Residential Care Facility (RCF) bed licenses. Per the Forecasted Bed Need Report (October 2024), there are a total of 1,978 RCF licensed beds statewide.

The Office of Community Services issues and regulates licenses and certifications for a variety of provider-types. Please review the manual for the provider type that you are interested in on our rules page.

A list of applications can be found below and can be submitted to [email protected].

Completed applications are entered in to our work queue and assigned to a specialist within 2 business days. Some manuals will outline timeframes for processing as well as requirements of what should be sent with an application. Additionally, those who want to enroll as a provider to Medicaid clients also should understand these licenses and certifications are only part of the prerequisites to the Medicaid Provider Enrollment process.

Please review the information on our page about becoming a Medicaid provider for more information. If you have any questions about applying, your application, or the regulating of an already issued license/certification, please contact us so that we may review your concerns.

Note: Prospective BHA and CES providers may instead apply to enroll as a Community Support System Provider (CSSP). CSSP agencies are certified to provide home and community-based services for Medicaid beneficiaries with behavioral health and intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) service needs. For additional information, please visit the DHS CSSP webpage.