Boise Senior AdvisorBy Boise Senior Advisor Care Team · September 4, 2026
Memory care in Idaho is not a separate license; it is the secured-bed count on a residential assisted living facility license. IDHW's records show 1,219 secured beds in 55 buildings in our five counties, concentrated in Boise and Meridian, with every Caldwell RALF reporting some.
Why secured beds are the number to watch
Families searching for memory care in Boise run into a vocabulary problem. Buildings advertise memory care, Alzheimer's care, dementia neighborhoods and reminiscence wings, but Idaho licenses none of those things separately. What the state does record, on every residential assisted living facility license, is how many beds are secured: inside a locked area with a secure yard.
That number matters because of one rule. IDAPA 16.03.22 requires a secure interior and exterior environment whenever a facility accepts and keeps residents with cognitive impairment and a history of elopement or attempted elopement. A parent who has begun to wander needs a building with secured beds, whatever its brochure calls the program.
Secured beds by city
| City | Senior RALFs | Licensed beds | With secured beds | Secured beds | Accept Medicaid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boise | 21 | 785 | 21 | 444 | 14 |
| Meridian | 10 | 656 | 10 | 246 | 7 |
| Caldwell | 7 | 405 | 7 | 135 | 7 |
| Nampa | 6 | 281 | 6 | 117 | 5 |
| Eagle | 5 | 287 | 5 | 120 | 2 |
| Middleton | 2 | 47 | 2 | 31 | 2 |
| Emmett | 2 | 120 | 2 | 50 | 2 |
| Garden City | 1 | 0 | 1 | 45 | 1 |
| Kuna | 1 | 63 | 1 | 31 | 1 |
Source: IDHW Residential Assisted Living Facility Search, retrieved November 6, 2026.
Boise and Meridian hold the largest share, as they do for assisted living in general. Caldwell stands out: every senior-serving RALF there reports secured beds. In Star, IDHW's record shows small homes without any. Eagle, Nampa and Emmett fall in between.
The largest secured units
| Facility | City | Licensed beds | Secured beds |
|---|---|---|---|
| CornerStone Senior Living, LLC | Boise | 58 | 58 |
| Table Rock Senior Living at Barber Station | Boise | 100 | 50 |
| Garden City Senior Living DBA Emerson House Senior Living | Garden City | 0 | 45 |
| Copper Springs | Meridian | 119 | 44 |
| Edgewood Spring Creek Boise, LLC | Boise | 43 | 43 |
| Grace Memory Care at State Street | Boise | 40 | 40 |
Source: IDHW Residential Assisted Living Facility Search, retrieved November 6, 2026.
Large secured counts usually mean a dedicated memory care building or wing. Small counts, four to sixteen beds, often belong to residential homes where the whole house is secured. Both can work well. A small home can feel calmer; a large unit can offer more structured activity and staff depth on nights.
What the bed count does not tell you
A secured bed count is a capacity figure, not a vacancy figure, and it says nothing about staffing inside the unit. Idaho sets no numeric staff ratio, so ask each building how many caregivers are awake inside the secured area overnight, and whether they also cover the rest of the building.
Ask about training as well. Every Idaho caregiver needs 16 hours of orientation before working alone and eight hours of continuing training a year; ask how much of that is dementia-specific. And ask what changes would lead the building to say it can no longer meet your parent's needs.
Paying for memory care in the valley
CareScout publishes no memory care median for Idaho or any state. Expect the assisted living rate, about $5,175 a month at the 2025 Idaho median, plus a care or unit charge. On IDHW's records 41 of the 55 buildings with secured beds accept Idaho Medicaid, which can pay for care services through the Aged and Disabled waiver while the resident pays room and board from income.
If savings will not last, choose from the Medicaid list now. Moving a person with dementia twice is harder on everyone than paying a little more attention at the start.
How families use the map in practice
Start with the city where the most frequent visitor lives, then sort our memory care roster by secured beds. A short list of three buildings within a twenty-minute drive is enough for most families. Call each to ask about openings and whether a waiting list exists, then read each facility page for the survey record before touring.
If a parent is in a hospital and needs memory care at discharge, availability is often the bottleneck. Ask the hospital case manager to send records to two or three buildings at once rather than one at a time.
Dementia without wandering
Not every person with dementia needs a secured bed. Many Treasure Valley RALFs list dementia among the resident types they accept without having secured beds, which suits early stages when a person is confused but not trying to leave. The move to a secured unit usually comes with the first episode of exit-seeking or getting lost.
Ask the building you choose whether it also has secured beds, so a later move can happen within the same community.
Frequently asked questions
Is memory care licensed in Idaho?
No. It is provided inside a licensed RALF, and the license shows the number of secured beds.
How many memory care beds are in the Treasure Valley?
IDHW's records show 1,219 secured beds in 55 licensed RALFs (retrieved November 6, 2026).
Does a secured bed count mean a bed is available?
No. It is licensed capacity; call the building for current openings.
Does Medicaid pay for memory care in Idaho?
The A&D waiver can pay for care in RALFs that accept Medicaid; room and board is the resident's responsibility.
How do I find out if a memory care unit has an opening?
Call the building directly; IDHW's record shows licensed capacity, not vacancies.
What training do memory care staff need in Idaho?
All caregivers need 16 hours of orientation before working alone, specific to the population served, and 8 hours of training a year.
