The VA Community Residential Care program places veterans who can’t safely live alone into privately run homes that provide meals, supervision, and help with daily activities. The veteran pays room and board directly to the home; the VA provides clinical oversight, case management, and outpatient medical care at no charge. It’s meant for people whose medical or psychiatric condition requires monitoring but who don’t need a hospital or nursing home.
Who Qualifies
Two things have to be true. First, you need a current connection to VA health care: either you’re receiving VA medical services now, on an outpatient basis or in a VA facility, or you received such care within the previous 12 months.1eCFR. 38 CFR 17.61 – Eligibility Second, a medical or psychiatric condition has to make independent living unsafe, and you can’t have family able to provide the supervision and help you need.
You also have to be medically and psychiatrically stable at the time of placement. Under VHA Directive 1140.01, the CRC Coordinator evaluates whether your behavior is acceptable for community living and confirms you’re not a danger to yourself or others, and a suicide risk screening happens at admission.2U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VHA Directive 1140.01 – Community Residential Care Program If your condition is too acute, the VA will direct you to a higher level of care instead.
Because CRC runs through VA health care, you have to be enrolled in the VA system first. Priority group placement affects whether you’re enrolled at all, but it doesn’t create a separate CRC waitlist.3Veterans Affairs. VA Priority Groups
What the Home Must Provide
Every approved facility owes residents a defined base level of care, no matter what the monthly rate is. That includes room and board, three meals a day plus two snacks (adjusted for dietary needs), laundry, transportation to VA and health care appointments, an escort to those appointments when needed, 24-hour supervision when indicated, and hands-on help with bathing, dressing, and medication management.4eCFR. 38 CFR 17.63 – Approval of Community Residential Care Facilities If your needs go beyond that baseline, the facility has to provide the medically appropriate level of care.
The VA inspects each home before approving it and re-inspects at least once a year, with approval running 12 months at a time.5eCFR. 38 CFR 17.65 – Approval of Community Residential Care Facilities Facilities must report any alleged mistreatment, neglect, or misappropriation of a resident’s property to the VA within 24 hours, and a staff member with current First Aid and CPR certification must be in the home at all times.2U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VHA Directive 1140.01 – Community Residential Care Program
Your Rights as a Resident
Federal rules give CRC residents a specific set of protections that every approved home has to enforce in writing under 38 CFR 17.63(h).6eCFR. 38 CFR Part 17 – Community Residential Care You can:
- Send and receive mail unopened, use a telephone in reasonable privacy, and keep your person and possessions private.
- Manage your own money unless a legal restriction says otherwise. If you ask the facility to help, the request has to be documented.
- Voice complaints and recommend changes to facility policies without retaliation.
- Inspect the records the facility keeps about you.
- Receive visitors, come and go, associate with anyone you choose, and practice or abstain from religion.
- Refuse household work beyond your own personal housekeeping unless you’re paid or you agreed in advance that the work is voluntary.
- Transfer to another facility, or to independent living, at any time.
If a home is violating any of these, contact the CRC Coordinator at the local VA Medical Center.
What It Costs and What the VA Pays For
The VA does not pay your room and board. You and the facility agree on a monthly charge, and the VA official overseeing the home has to approve that agreement.6eCFR. 38 CFR Part 17 – Community Residential Care What the VA covers is the clinical side: periodic visits from VA health care staff, case management, and outpatient medical care at VA facilities.7U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Community Residential Care
Rates vary by location and level of care, but two rules protect you. The charge has to be reasonable and comparable to the current average rate for residential care in the same state or region for the same level of care. And year-to-year increases for the same level of care can’t exceed the annual percentage increase in the National Consumer Price Index.4eCFR. 38 CFR 17.63 – Approval of Community Residential Care Facilities The approving official can authorize a rate above the regional average if your individual needs justify it and both sides agree, or below average as long as it doesn’t drop your care below what you need.
Most veterans cover the monthly bill through some combination of VA pension, Social Security, personal savings, or other retirement income.7U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Community Residential Care Before placement, the CRC Coordinator reviews your finances to confirm you can sustain the monthly fee.
Using Aid and Attendance to Offset Room and Board
Veterans getting a VA pension who also need help with daily activities may qualify for Aid and Attendance, which adds a monthly amount on top of the pension. For 2026, the maximum annual pension rate with Aid and Attendance is $29,093 for a single veteran with no dependents (about $2,424 a month) and $34,488 for a veteran with at least one dependent (about $2,874 a month).8U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Current Pension Rates for Veterans The actual check is smaller if you have countable income, which the VA subtracts from the maximum.
You qualify if at least one is true: you need help from another person with daily activities like bathing, feeding, or dressing; you spend most of the day in bed because of illness; you’re in a nursing home due to lost mental or physical abilities; or your eyesight is severely limited.9U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Aid and Attendance Benefits and Housebound Allowance Many veterans entering CRC meet these criteria by definition, since the program exists for people who can’t live independently. Filing for Aid and Attendance alongside your CRC application is worth doing, because even a partial payment offsets a real chunk of the monthly bill.
How to Get Placed
Start with the CRC Coordinator at your local VA Medical Center. Call the medical center directly or ask your VA primary care provider for a referral. Have this ready before you make the call:
- Medical records documenting the physical, psychiatric, or cognitive limitations that require supervised living.
- Financial documents: bank statements, pension award letters, Social Security statements, or other proof you can sustain the monthly fee.
- VA Form 10-10EZ, which confirms enrollment in VA health care. If you’re already enrolled, you don’t need a new one.10U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Form 10-10EZ – Instructions and Enrollment Application for Health Benefits
- VA Form 10-5345, which authorizes the VA to share your health information with third parties. This may be needed if private providers hold records relevant to your placement.11U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Form 10-5345 – Request for and Authorization to Release Health Information
A VA clinical team then reviews your health status, confirms eligibility, and identifies the level of care you need. If approved, the coordinator gives you a list of VA-inspected homes in your area. You visit the ones you’re interested in. When you choose one, you and the operator sign a residency agreement that spells out the services and monthly rate, and the VA approving official signs off. The coordinator continues to check in periodically to see that the facility is meeting its obligations and your needs haven’t changed.
Leaving or Changing Facilities
Placement isn’t permanent. If your condition worsens and you need hospital or nursing home care, the VA medical facility is responsible for helping you move to that higher level of care.2U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VHA Directive 1140.01 – Community Residential Care Program The same applies if you become unstable or your behavior is no longer acceptable for community living, including threats toward the operator, caregivers, or other residents.
Going the other direction, if your condition improves you can move to independent living whenever you want. That right is guaranteed under the resident rights rules, and no facility can stop you from leaving.6eCFR. 38 CFR Part 17 – Community Residential Care You can also switch to a different approved CRC home if your current one isn’t working, and the coordinator can arrange a new placement without restarting the whole eligibility process.