Youville House

Is Youville House a certified assisted living residence in Massachusetts?

Yes. Youville House at 1573 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 is listed as Certified on the Massachusetts Executive Office of Aging & Independence (AGE) list of certified Assisted Living Residences dated June 25, 2026, and has held certification since May 30, 1998. Massachusetts certifies assisted living residences rather than licensing them, so there is no license number to look up — the state identifies each residence by name and address.

Youville House is one of the longer-running residences in Middlesex County: its certification dates to 1998, the first years of the Massachusetts ALR program after the 1994 law that created it.

Check the record yourself on the mass.gov page for Youville House, which also lists the unit counts, ownership flags and any posted Compliance Review Report.

What did the latest Massachusetts compliance review of Youville House find?

AGE's most recent posted Compliance Review of Youville House, conducted May 1, 2024, resulted in a Plan of correction required across 5 lettered finding areas, 3 of them marked as repeat findings from the prior review.

The report's findings covered emergency-call (e-call) response times, annual reports to the state, the quality assurance and performance improvement (QAPI) program, on-time reporting of resident incidents to the state, evacuation and elopement drills and staff training and supervision records.

A Plan of Correction is the standard outcome of a Massachusetts compliance review: the residence answers each finding in writing and AGE grants recertification once the fixes are accepted. It is not a suspension or fine. Nearly every residence with a posted report in Greater Boston received one, so the useful comparison is which areas were cited and whether they repeat.

For context, the median posted report for a Middlesex County residence lists 6 finding areas; Youville House's latest lists fewer than that.

Read the full Compliance Review Report on mass.gov →

Does Youville House offer memory care?

No. Youville House has no Special Care Residence units on the state record, so it is certified for traditional assisted living only. A resident whose dementia progresses to needing a secured setting would usually need to move to a residence with an SCR or to a nursing home.

2 other certified residences in Cambridge have Special Care Residence units: Cadbury Commons, Neville Place Assisted Living. See the full memory care list for the rest of Greater Boston.

Where is Youville House located in Cambridge, MA?

Youville House is at 1573 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, in Middlesex County. Hospitals families in Cambridge commonly use include Mount Auburn Hospital and Cambridge Health Alliance – Cambridge Hospital.

Cambridge Street and Concord Avenue connect North Cambridge, Harvard Square and the Red Line.

There are 3 other certified residences in Cambridge: Cadbury Commons, Cambridge Homes, Neville Place Assisted Living.

Veterans and surviving spouses can be served by the VA Boston Healthcare System (Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury and Brockton campuses) and may qualify for VA Aid & Attendance toward assisted living costs.

How does Youville House compare with other assisted living in Middlesex County?

With 95 certified units, Youville House is larger than most among the 75 certified residences in Middlesex County (number 14 by unit count); the county median is 79 units.

61 of those 75 residences have Special Care Residence units, 7 report nonprofit ownership on their state profile, and 20 list low-income options.

Youville House is one of the nonprofit-owned residences — a minority in Massachusetts, where about four in five ALRs are for-profit.

Closest in size among Middlesex County residences, from the same state records:

How much does Youville House cost per month?

Massachusetts does not publish prices for individual residences, so ask Youville House for its written fee schedule. Statewide, AGE's 2025 census report puts the median monthly fee range at $4,228–$9,225 for traditional units.

Greater Boston generally runs above those statewide medians: this site's cost research puts typical assisted living at $5,800–$8,200/mo in 2026, with Brookline, Newton, Cambridge and the Back Bay at the high end.

Youville House's state profile lists low-income options — usually affordable units created under housing programs such as Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Ask how many such units exist and how long the waitlist is.

MassHealth does not pay assisted living rent. Some residences accept MassHealth Group Adult Foster Care (GAFC) or a Senior Care Options (SCO) plan for personal-care services; ask the residence directly, and see our Frail Elder Waiver guide for at-home alternatives.

What should you ask when touring Youville House?

Start with the areas the state already flagged at Youville House — emergency-call (e-call) response times, annual reports to the state, the quality assurance and performance improvement (QAPI) program — and ask what changed after the review; then cover staffing, fees and move-out triggers.

• What is your average pendant/e-call response time overnight, and can I see last month's response log?
• Are your annual reports to AGE up to date?
• What has your quality-improvement committee changed in the past year?
• How do you notify families and the state after a fall or other incident, and how fast?
• Which care needs would require a move to a nursing home?
• How long have the executive director and resident care director been in their roles?
• Is a nurse on site every day, and who covers nights and weekends?
• What happens if a resident runs out of private funds?

Visit twice — once at a meal — and read the residency agreement before paying a deposit. Massachusetts gives ALR residents specific resident rights, and the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program can help if problems come up later.

How does moving into Youville House work?

Before anyone moves into Youville House, Massachusetts rules require the residence to screen and assess the prospective resident and agree a written service plan with the family.

• Residency agreement and disclosures. The residence must give you its residency agreement and a disclosure of fees, services and discharge terms; take them home and compare them before paying a deposit.
• Medication plan. Decide whether your parent will self-administer, receive Self-Administered Medication Management (SAMM) help from aides, or need Limited Medication Administration (LMA) by a nurse — it affects both care and fees.
• Payment. Rent and care are almost always private pay in an ALR; long-term care insurance and VA Aid & Attendance can offset them.
• Affordable units. Ask Youville House for the income limits and waitlist for its low-income units.

Most moves take two to four weeks once a unit is available; a hospital discharge can compress that to days, which is when a second set of eyes on the agreement helps most.

Frequently asked questions