Group homes and ICF-IID

Menus written to the DDS diet manual, policy manuals for ICFs, and RDN visits sized to a small home.

A group home dietitian in California, Arizona or Washington visits a small home a few hours a month and has to make those hours count: individual nutrition assessments, weights, diet orders, a menu the house staff can actually cook from, and documentation that satisfies the ICF surveyor. We have served group homes and ICF-IIDs for decades with visiting RDNs, four-week menus written quarterly to the DDS diet manual (with pediatric and custom versions available), and the policy and diet manuals the setting requires.

Built from the ground up for ICF homes

Our dietitians chart in our own nutrition program. We built it just for ICF homes, and we built it to be Title 22 compliant from the beginning. It is HIPAA-compliant. You can't buy it anywhere. It comes with our dietitians.

  • Nothing comes due by surprise. Annuals, semi-annuals, quarterlies and monthly tube-feeding notes are scheduled from each resident's own dates. The schedule shows what's due at every house before the visit.
  • Weight changes caught early. Every weight is graphed. A change of 5% in 30 days, 7.5% in 90 days or 10% in 180 days is flagged as soon as it's entered.
  • Nothing carried forward unchecked. Every note follows the same seven sections, from weights to the plan. Anything copied from the last note stays marked until the dietitian confirms or changes it.
  • Tube feeding, worked out. Calories, protein and water from the formula and every flush are totaled and checked against the resident's needs. A flush change shows the new daily water before it's recommended.
  • Recommendations your staff can use. Each house manager or nurse gets one email a month with the diet recommendations for the homes they cover.
  • Children are covered. CDC growth charts (WHO charts under age 2), pediatric energy, protein and fluid needs, and goal weight ranges based on growth percentiles.
  • A kitchen check at every visit. The kitchen inspection is part of each house visit, with the last inspection's notes in front of the dietitian.

Also built in: nutrition notes for common medications, and BMI, ideal body weight and estimated needs calculated on every note.

Therap or paper: we chart the way your home does

Some of the ICF homes we serve run on Therap. Others keep paper charts. Our nutrition program was built for both, so your home keeps charting the way it does today.

If your home uses Therap

  • Weights straight from Therap. We read the Health Tracking height and weight report from Therap, for one resident or many, and every weight lands on the right resident's graph. Nobody retypes a number.
  • Moves between houses get caught. If Therap shows a resident in a different house, the program asks which record the weights belong to before filing them.
  • Notes back into Therap your way. Finished notes come as a PDF to upload or as text to paste, whichever your home prefers.

If your home keeps paper charts

  • Made to file. An annual assessment is laid out to fit on one sheet, front and back, with its charts.
  • No more half-empty pages. Quarterly, monthly and weight notes print one after another on a running progress-note sheet, the way handwritten notes go in a chart.
  • Nothing lost. Every note is saved electronically too, so a missing page can be reprinted any time.

Either way, every resident gets the same assessment, the same weight-change flags and the same tube-feeding math. Your house manager or nurse gets one email a month with the diet recommendations.

Talk to us about coverage for your homes Call (951) 849-5150

What we handle for group homes and ICF-IIDs

  • Registered dietitian coverage

    Our food service and nutrition experts can be placed in your community for long-term or short-term coverage. Many of our RDNs hold specialized clinical expertise and board certifications in gerontological nutrition (CSG), renal nutrition (CSR) or nutrition support (CNSC), and all are trained in the federal and state regulations that apply to your type of facility.

  • Menu services

    Specialized cycle menus, fully IDDSI 2.2 compliant, with custom menus available. Menus are delivered seasonally so they use the freshest ingredients, on paper or through our online MenuCentral™ platform.

  • Cost analysis

    Concerned about your dietary budget? Our RDNs review the whole dietary system, from accounting and purchasing practices to food production, supplement and snack use and labor efficiency, and show you where the money goes.

  • Risk management and QAPI

    Experienced RDNs perform mock surveys, help implement QAPI plans and review the critical aspects of your nutritional care and dietary operations so you go into survey with the risks already handled.

  • Staff training and certification

    Our food and nutrition experts train your staff efficiently and thoroughly, with online education and ServSafe training and certification, so your department runs well between visits.

Menus and manuals for group homes and ICF-IIDs

Details are on the menus and manuals and forms pages, where you can request a menu quote or order manuals. All menus are fully IDDSI 2.2 compliant.

  • Monthly Online Menu Subscription

    quoted per facility

    Online access through MenuCentral™ to the current cycle, recipes and daily cook's menus, with menus updated quarterly.

    A discount applies if you also have RD services with Nutrition Ink.

  • Group Home / ICF-IID Menu

    quoted per facility

    Four-week menus for group homes and ICF-IID settings, written quarterly with nutritional analysis, following the California Department of Developmental Services diet manual guidelines.

    Includes regular, heart-healthy, consistent-carbohydrate and other therapeutic diets, standard Prader-Willi, PKU and ketogenic menus at no extra charge, texture-modified diets by IDDSI level, holiday menus, sack lunches, a range of portion sizes, recipes with preparation instructions and HACCP guidance, and editable daily cook's menus. Custom menus for the specific needs of your home and a pediatric version are available.

  • Medical Nutrition Diet Therapy Manual (ICF / Group Home)

    $75.00 each

    The diet manual edition written for ICF and group home settings.

  • Group Home / ICF Policy & Procedure Manual

    $179.00 each

    Policies and procedures for quality care in group homes and ICF settings, in compliance with current federal and California regulations and the latest Federal Food Code. Updated regularly as regulations change.

  • Successful Survey Toolkit (full set)

    $150.00 per set

    Laminated training guides that prepare kitchen staff for survey, covering 20 topics from cool-down procedures to handwashing, plus a quick reference guide, quiz cards and a scoop-sizes chart. Available in English or Spanish.

    Topics include calibrating thermometers, cleaning and sanitizing equipment (ice machine, meat slicer, thermometers), the cool-down process, disaster preparedness, dish machine sanitation, fire suppression, talking with surveyors, food temperatures, labeling, dating and storage, two- and three-compartment dishwashing, menu substitutions, thawing, handwashing and glove use, puree instructions and sanitizer-bucket testing.

Regulations we work to

Intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are surveyed against the federal ICF-IID conditions in every state, along with the state's own rules. In California that means Title 22, and menus are expected to follow the Department of Developmental Services diet manual; group homes in Arizona and Washington follow their state's developmental disabilities program and licensing rules. Our group home menus and manuals are written to the federal and California requirements, and our RDNs work to the rules of the state the home is in.

Talk to us about your program. Tell us about the facility and what you need, and a staff specialist will be in touch.

Contact us