The care home platform built from real experience
COALA was built by people who understand the realities of running a residential care home — an electronic file management, compliance, and operations platform designed specifically for Regional Center-vendored homes.
What COALA Means
Five pillars that keep your home organized, compliant, and focused on the people you serve.
Compliance
Helping providers stay organized, prepared, and aware of licensing, Regional Center, HCBS, staff, resident, and operational requirements.
Operations
Bringing the day-to-day operations of a residential care home into one centralized platform.
Automation
Using reminders, alerts, digital workflows, and smart tools to reduce repetitive administrative work and prevent important requirements from being overlooked.
Life
Keeping the focus on the people receiving services—not paperwork. Technology should give administrators and DSPs more time to support residents in living meaningful, person-centered lives.
Administration
Simplifying documentation, staff records, resident files, training, scheduling, medications, compliance tracking, and other administrative responsibilities.
"Compliance. Operations. Automation. Life. Administration. Everything that keeps your home moving—together in one place."
From binders to a better way
One of COALA's founders is a Registered Nurse who provided consultation services to residential care homes. During her work inside different homes, she repeatedly noticed the same problem: many providers were still operating almost entirely with paper records and stacks of binders.
Staff and administrators would have to search through multiple binders to find resident information, staff documents, training records, medical information, expiration dates, and compliance documentation.
She also saw providers receive Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) because something important had been overlooked—a certification expired, a required document wasn't renewed, a training wasn't completed, or another requirement was missed simply because administrators could not constantly review every binder and every expiration date.
The problem wasn't that providers didn't care about compliance. The problem was that the systems they were using made staying organized unnecessarily difficult.
That experience sparked the idea for COALA.
Paper Binders
Hard to search
Easy to miss
COALA
Searchable
Automated reminders
Built with operators. Validated in the field.
COALA was not designed solely by a software development team. The platform has been informed, reviewed, and shaped through the experience and feedback of professionals and providers who understand California's developmental services system and residential and day program operations.
"COALA is built around how providers actually operate — not around how software developers assume they operate."
Built With Providers, Not Just For Providers
Instead of designing another generic healthcare software system, the founders began talking directly with people who understand California's developmental services system. Those conversations shaped COALA into a platform designed specifically for Regional Center-vendored residential care homes.
A more organized, proactive way to operate
COALA was created to help providers move away from relying solely on paper binders and toward a more organized, proactive way of operating their homes.
"COALA was built by people who understand the realities of running a residential care home."
Explore what COALA can do for your home
See how compliance, operations, and care come together in one place.