The California LIC 308 form, officially titled Designation of Facility Responsibility, is how a licensed community care facility names the staff members authorized to run the facility and deal with licensing inspectors when the licensee or administrator is away. The Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) requires an authorized person on-site during all operational hours, and this form puts that authorization on paper.1California Department of Social Services. LIC 308 – Designation of Facility Responsibility You download it from CDSS, fill in your facility’s details and your designees’ names, collect signatures, and submit it to your CCLD regional office.
Who Needs to File It
Any facility holding a community care license from CDSS uses the LIC 308. The form itself points to three different Title 22 regulation sections depending on your license type: 22 CCR 87564 for Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly, 22 CCR 101215.1 for Child Care Centers, and 22 CCR 80064 for all other community care facilities.1California Department of Social Services. LIC 308 – Designation of Facility Responsibility
Qualifications for the person you designate depend on your license type. A substitute group home administrator, for example, needs at least a bachelor’s degree plus two years of full-time administrative or supervisory experience working with children in a care setting.2Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 22 Section 84164 – Administrator Qualifications and Duties RCFE administrators have their own 80-hour certification and state exam. Confirm the qualification rules for your specific license before you write anyone’s name on the form; a designee who cannot meet the regulatory minimum will not shield you from a citation.
What to Have Ready Before You Start
Pull these together before you open the PDF:
- Your facility license number, exactly as it appears on your license certificate.
- Facility name and address, matching what CCLD already has on file. Mismatches slow processing.
- Phone number and county. The form asks for them in separate fields.
- Full printed names of every person you want authorized, in the order you want them treated as primary and backups.
- Everyone’s availability to sign. The licensee signs, and each designee signs next to their printed name.
Signing is not a formality for the designees. By signing, each person accepts responsibility for the facility’s compliance with California health and safety standards during your absence, and an inspector who shows up unannounced will hold them to that.
Filling Out the Form
Always download the current version directly from cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/entres/forms/English/LIC308.pdf.1California Department of Social Services. LIC 308 – Designation of Facility Responsibility A superseded copy can be rejected by your regional office.
The top section asks for your facility’s identifying information: facility name, date, facility number, address, phone number, city, and county. Complete every field. A blank county or phone number can hold up matching the form to your file.
The middle section is where you print the names of the people you are authorizing to represent the facility, and where each of them signs. List them in the order that reflects your intended hierarchy, with the primary stand-in first and backups below.
At the bottom, you sign as the applicant or licensee and add your title, address, city, county, and zip code. The form includes an acknowledgment that you will notify the licensing agency in writing within 10 days of any change to the designations listed.1California Department of Social Services. LIC 308 – Designation of Facility Responsibility Treat that 10-day window as a hard deadline.
Where to Send It
Submit the signed form to the CCLD regional office that oversees your facility. CCLD runs separate regional networks by license type:
- Adult and senior care facilities, including RCFEs, go to the Adult and Senior Care regional office for their area.
- Child care centers go to the Child Care regional office for their area.
- Children’s residential facilities go to the Children’s Residential regional office for their area.
Office addresses are listed in the directory PDFs linked from cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/community-care-licensing.3California Department of Social Services. Community Care Licensing
Keep a signed copy in your facility’s on-site administrative files, somewhere any manager on duty can produce it in seconds. Evaluators routinely ask to see it during inspections to confirm the person on duty is actually authorized.
Keeping the Designation Current
The LIC 308 is not a one-time filing. Any time a designated person leaves your employment, changes roles, or a new person needs to be added, you must submit an updated form to your regional office within 10 days.1California Department of Social Services. LIC 308 – Designation of Facility Responsibility Replace the on-site copy at the same time, so the document an inspector sees always reflects reality.
A workable habit is to review the form every time you process a staffing change. Facilities with high turnover tend to fall behind on this, and the gap usually surfaces at the worst moment, during an unannounced inspection when the person on duty is not listed on the current form.
What Happens If You Don’t Have One
Penalties depend on your facility type. For community care facilities generally, California Health and Safety Code Section 1548 treats absence of supervision as required by statute or regulation as a serious violation carrying an immediate civil penalty of $150 per day.4California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 1548 Non-serious deficiencies run $25 to $50 per day per violation, capped at $150 per day. A repeat of the same violation within 12 months triggers an immediate $150 assessment plus $50 for each additional day the problem continues.
RCFEs operate under a similar structure in 22 CCR Section 87761. Serious deficiencies not corrected by the deadline in a notice of deficiency carry $50 per day per cited violation, up to $150 per day. If the deficiency results in injury or death of a resident, the immediate penalty is $150 per day. A third violation of the same regulation within 12 months triggers an immediate $1,000 penalty per citation.5New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. California Code of Regulations Title 22 Section 87761 – Penalties A sustained pattern of noncompliance can escalate to license suspension or revocation.
What the Form Does Not Do
Signing the LIC 308 does not transfer your liability as a licensee. You remain legally responsible for everything that happens at your facility, including the actions or oversights of the people you designate. The form delegates the operational authority a qualified person needs to interact with inspectors, accept reports, and make management decisions while you are away. The legal obligations attached to your license stay with you.
That is why the vetting matters as much as the paperwork. Choose designees who understand your facility’s regulatory requirements, know where compliance records are kept, and can answer an inspector’s questions competently. Verify any credential thresholds that apply to your license type before you put a name on the form.