Thursday, November 30, 2017, 12:00pm ET
American Legion Hall, 8700 Bell Creek Road, Mechanicsville, VA
Veterans representing multiple service eras and branches will join leaders from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to discuss the Veterans-Directed Home and Community Based Services (VD-HCBS) program, an innovative program that helps disabled veterans live in their own homes, rather than in nursing homes. The event includes a panel veterans participating in the Richmond-area VD-HCBS program operated by Bay Aging and the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center. Beginning in December, the program also will be offered to veterans who receive care at the Hampton VAMC.
In addition to helping veterans avoid nursing homes, the program also has made it possible for veterans who had been living in facilities to transfer back to the community. Other VD-HCBS statistics include:
- The program is offered at 62 VA Medical Centers in 34 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico
- 181 Aging and Disability Network Agencies are delivering the VD-HCBS Program
- Currently 2,090 Veterans are enrolled in the program
- Nearly 6,700 Veterans have received services since the program’s inception
- In additional to quality of life improvements, the program is cost effective. One VAMC found that three veterans can receive care through VD-HCBS for the cost of caring for a single veteran in a nursing home.
Download a fact sheet about VD-HCBS. More information about VD-HCBS is available from ACL.