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Short-Term Respite Stays — Booking a Bed at a State Veterans Home

When a home care provider or a family carer is unavailable, four of the state's veterans community living centers take short-term respite stays. This record covers the respite route itself; for the homes, who lives in them and what the daily rate covers, see co-veterans-community-living-centers.

Verified August 27, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Short-term respite stays at four homes, on one comprehensive daily rate

The human services department states that short-term respite care can provide a helpful option when homecare providers are unavailable.
Those short-term stays are offered at the veterans community living centers at Florence, Homelake, Rifle and Walsenburg.
The department states the centers serve only veterans, veterans' spouses and Gold Star parents.
The department describes one comprehensive daily rate with no extra charges for medications, primary care physician services, oxygen, wheelchairs, other medical supplies, physical, speech and occupational therapy, or transportation to medical appointments.
Memory care is offered at all the centers, with secure units at Fitzsimons, Florence, Rifle and Walsenburg.
Assisted-living-style domiciliary cottages are offered at the Homelake center, which the department places at Monte Vista.
Short-term rehabilitation after a qualifying hospital stay is offered through Medicare-certified rehabilitation services.
End-of-life and hospice care is offered at all the centers.
The department does not state a maximum length for a respite stay, nor a separate respite rate.

Who is entitled to it

The homes admit veterans, veterans' spouses and Gold Star parents.
Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: Arranged with the home in advance

1Ring the specific home rather than the department. Only four of the centers take short-term respite, and availability is a bed question rather than a policy question.
2Arrange it before you need it. Respite is described as planned cover for when the usual carer is unavailable, which means the paperwork wants doing while things are calm.
3Ask what the comprehensive daily rate covers for a short stay. Medication, therapy and transport to appointments are named as included, and a respite quote that adds them back is worth querying.
4Gold Star parents should say so explicitly. They are named alongside veterans and spouses in the admission population, which is unusual and easy for a booking clerk to miss.
5If dementia is the reason respite is needed, ask about the secure units — four of the centers have them and the other does not.

File with: The veterans community living center you want to use
Documents you will need: dd214
Confirm with the office: We have not verified the renewal behaviour.

CorrectionThe state veterans homes are usually described as long-term care and nothing else, which hides the one thing a struggling family carer most needs: a bed for a fortnight. Respite is a stated offering at four of the five sites.

Known gapNo respite rate and no maximum stay length are published. The daily rate for long-term residency differs sharply between a veteran and a spouse because federal money covers part of a veteran's cost, and whether that split applies to a respite stay was not established.

Sources

authority · published policyDepartment of Human Services — Veterans Community Living Centers
operating · published policyDepartment of Human Services — Veterans Community Living Center at Homelake

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