Editorial

Our Editorial Process

AgeSong publishes guides and resources for families searching for residential care. This page explains how those guides are researched, fact-checked, and kept current.

We write for a reader in the middle of a hard decision. That reader deserves accurate information, clearly sourced, and kept up to date. The process below is how we try to deliver that.

Research and fact-checking

Every guide cites primary sources. When we describe a program, a regulation, an eligibility rule, or a cost figure, we link to the current federal or state authority behind it. Claims about Medicaid waivers, VA benefits, licensing requirements, and care home regulations are verified against the agency that administers them.

When a topic requires interpretation, such as comparing care settings or explaining how a state program works in practice, we describe the mechanics from the authoritative source first and then translate the rules into plain language. We do not recycle other directories or commercial blog posts as sources.

Sources we use

Our sourcing is limited to authoritative, publicly accountable references. In practice that means:

  • Federal .gov agencies, including CMS, Medicaid.gov, the Department of Veterans Affairs, HHS, and the Administration for Community Living.
  • State licensing agency databases and published regulations.
  • The CMS Care Compare system for federally certified facilities.
  • Professional associations, including the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Aging Life Care Association, and the National Association of Senior and Specialty Move Managers.
  • Peer-reviewed research in gerontology, long-term care policy, and aging services.

We do not cite other directories or commercial blog content as authoritative sources.

Update cadence

Guides are dated with a publish date and a last-updated date. State-specific financial figures, such as Medicaid asset limits, waiver slots, and average care costs, are reviewed quarterly. Every guide receives a full review at least once a year, and sooner if a significant regulatory or program change affects its subject.

Corrections

If a reader finds an error, please write to corrections@agesong.com or use our contact form. When we make a factual correction, we update the last-updated date on the article and add a brief correction notice describing what changed and when. We correct errors quickly and we do not remove them silently.

Editorial advisory board

We are holding space for a future editorial advisory board. The planned board will include a geriatric care manager, an elder law attorney, and a small care home operator. Once recruited, board members will review articles in their areas of expertise and be credited on the guides they review. Until then, the AgeSong Editorial Team is solely responsible for all content.

What we do not do

  • No paid placements in articles. An operator cannot pay to be mentioned, recommended, or linked.
  • No sponsored content in the guides section. Guides are written for the reader, not for a sponsor.
  • No affiliate recommendations presented as editorial content. If an affiliate link ever appears in a guide, it is labeled at the point of the link.

For the full picture of our business model and how we stay independent, see our page on how we make money.

Affiliate disclosure

AgeSong is reader-supported. Some of the banner ads and links on this site are affiliate links, including to A Place for Mom through the Awin network. If you use one of those links and take an action, we may earn a commission, at no additional cost to you.

Affiliate units are always labeled Sponsored and appear as advertisements, in sidebars, at the end of articles, and on our interactive tools. They are never woven into the body of a guide as if they were our own recommendation.

These relationships do not influence our work. The homes in our directory are compiled from public state licensing records, not from anyone who pays us. No operator can buy a listing, a ranking, or a mention, and no advertiser shapes which care settings we describe or how we describe them. Our guidance is written for the family making the decision.