More Than Care: Helping Veterans Stay Home and Stay Connected

This Veterans Day, we honor veterans' service and sacrifice. We also celebrate something deeply personal: the ability for veterans to live at home, stay connected to the people they love, and make choices about their own care. Veteran Directed Care (VDC) helps make that possible. The Veterans Health Administration and ACL developed the VDC program to offer eligible veterans more access, choice, and control over long-term services and supports that can help them live at home and be part of their communities. Veterans in the program are eligible for nursing home-level care, but through VDC they have the option to receive home-based care when it can safely meet their needs, rather than moving into an institution.

Through VDC, veterans have a flexible budget to arrange support that best fits their lives and preferences. This may include hiring family members, friends, neighbors, or other workers to provide individualized support. Person-centered counselors - professionals trained as program navigators and advocates - from aging and disability organizations help veterans make decisions about their own care, manage their program budget, find and train workers, and secure services and goods. Veterans have a personalized care plan, caregivers get the support they need, and care centers around what a veteran needs at home.

The program's reach is growing. As of July 2026, VDC served 16,150 people, an increase of nearly 40% from a total of 11,611 in 2025. This growth reflects increased access to and demand for a program that prioritizes choice, independence, and community living.

Veterans and their families say the program has had a big impact on their lives. One spouse described the program as "a saving grace" and said that learning what supports were available brought "so much relief." She added, "This program has helped me keep [veteran] at home, that's for sure! And this is where he wants to be." Another family shared that when a veteran needed 24-hour care, they did not know how they would manage. Through VDC, they found the support they needed. His daughter said, "This program changed our lives."

These stories show what it means to have support that fits everyday life. Families point to the relief of having help with coordinating services to keep the veteran at home and the reassurance of knowing someone who understands the program is just a phone call away.

A new law is helping shape VDC's future. The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act (Dole Act), signed into law on January 2, 2025, officially codifies the VDC program within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), moving it from a pilot initiative to a permanent program that is offered across every Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC). The Dole Act also broadens the network of eligible aging and disability network agencies to include Indian tribes and tribal organizations receiving Title VI assistance under the Older Americans Act. By building and strengthening partnerships with local VAMCs, ACL's network of VDC providers has rapidly responded to reach more veterans than ever before.

This Veterans Day, we honor those who served by recognizing what matters to veterans every day: the freedom to live where they choose, stay connected to their communities, and get the support they need.

To learn more about VDC, visit ACL's Veteran-Directed Care webpage.