Veteran-Directed Care — You Hold the Budget and You Choose Who Is Paid
A self-directed programme run jointly by the state aging department and the federal veterans department. The veteran is given authority over a specific budget, builds a care plan with a coordinator, then decides who provides the care — family, friends or neighbours included — and how much they are paid. It is aimed squarely at veterans at risk of nursing home placement, and at those already in one who could safely come home.
Verified August 23, 2026
What this benefit is
A self-directed programme run jointly by the state aging department and the federal veterans department. The veteran is given authority over a specific budget, builds a care plan with a coordinator, then decides who provides the care — family, friends or neighbours included — and how much they are paid. It is aimed squarely at veterans at risk of nursing home placement, and at those already in one who could safely come home.
What it's worth: A self-directed budget covering personal care, homemaker support, adult day care, assistive technology, meals, respite and home modification — with the veteran choosing and paying the providers
- The department describes Veteran-Directed Care as a partnership between the federal veterans department and the state aging and long-term services department.
- It is a self-directed programme allowing veterans and their families to choose the services and supports they need to live safely at home.
- The department states the eligible veteran is enrolled in primary care with a federal veterans medical centre.
- The eligible veteran either wants to remain living at home but is at risk of needing nursing home care, or is in nursing home care and could safely transition home.
- The department also names a service-connected disability, willingness and ability to self-direct services, and openness to family, friends or neighbours providing care as criteria.
- Allowable services include personal care, homemaker and supportive home care, adult day care, assistive technology, home-delivered meals, homemaker caregiver support, respite care, environmental support, and other goods and services needed to remain safely in the community.
- The veteran, together with a programme coordinator, develops a care plan identifying service needs.
- The veteran is given authority and responsibility over a specific budget to fund the chosen services.
- The veteran decides who provides the services — including family, friends and neighbours — and determines how much they will be paid.
- A fiscal management agent assists with payment processing on the veteran’s behalf.
- The department names the federal medical centre in Albuquerque in connection with the programme, and the state enquiry route as the aging and disability resource centre on 1-800-432-2080 or the department’s programme mailbox.
- The department reactivated a Long-Term Care Division to coordinate this programme alongside its other caregiving work.
Who is entitled to it
- You are a veteran.
- 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
- 1Start with your federal primary care team, because enrolment in federal primary care is the gate. Ask your provider or social worker for a Veteran-Directed Care referral by name — it is a specific programme, not a general request for home help.
- 2Ring the state aging and disability resource centre on 1-800-432-2080 in parallel. The state side runs the coordination, and getting into their queue at the same time as the referral shortens the wait.
- 3Frame the conversation around nursing home risk. The programme is built for veterans at risk of needing that level of care, and for veterans already in a facility who could come home — that framing is what the eligibility turns on.
- 4Think in advance about who you would want paid. The programme lets you hire family, friends and neighbours and lets you set the rate, which is unusual and is the part people are least prepared for.
- 5Build the care plan properly with the coordinator. The allowable list is wide — personal care, homemaker support, adult day care, assistive technology, meals, respite, environmental support — and the budget follows the plan.
- 6Do not forget respite for whoever is caring for you now. It is expressly an allowable service, and it is the line item family caregivers most often leave off their own plan.
- 7Ask about home modification and assistive technology specifically. They are on the allowable list and they are the items that most often make the difference between staying home and not.
- 8Expect a fiscal agent in the middle. You choose and direct; they process the payments — so keep records of hours as though you were an employer, because functionally you are.
- Form
- No public form — referral through the federal medical centre, then enrolment with the state programme coordinator
- File with
- The Aging and Long-Term Services Department, through the aging and disability resource centre
- Periodic recertification
- Confirmed at intervals rather than annually.
Sources
- authority · published policyAging and Long-Term Services Department — Veteran-Directed Care
- operating · published policyAging and Long-Term Services Department — long-term care division and caregiver resources
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.