What Is Veteran Directed Home Services
Veteran Directed Home Services (VDHS) is a new service delivery model funded through the Veteran’s Administration as an alternative to nursing facility care. VDHS provides eligible Veterans the opportunity to receive home and community-based services to enable them to continue to live in their homes and communities. These VA funded services are coordinated and delivered by four Area Agencies on Aging(AAA) in Western Washington: Olympic AAA (Jefferson, Clallam, Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties), Pierce County ALTC, King County ADS and NW Regional Council (Whatcom and Skagit Counties).
The goal of VDHS is to provide increased flexibility and access to home and community-based services that enable a Veteran to remain in the community. This program offers a Veteran access to an assessment that will identify his or her needs and preferences. An individual budget and spending plan is developed based on the Veteran’s assessed needs and preferences and includes goods and services (including hiring and managing employees) that will best meet the identified needs. This spending plan must be approved by the Area Agency on Aging and the VA Puget Sound Health Care System.
Sunrise Services, Inc provides financial management services (FMS) to Veterans participating in VDHS. While the FMS provides procurement, contracting and bill paying services Veterans have control over what services and/or goods are purchased as part of their spending plans as long as there is consistency between the services/goods and assessed needs.
Who is Eligible to Enroll in Veteran Directed Home Services
For a Veteran to qualify for VDHS, they must first be enrolled to receive primary care at a VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA PSHCS) hospital or clinic, have a VA primary care team, meet the eligibility criteria for home and community-based services as determined by the VA, and receive a referral from the VDHS liaison at VA PSHCS. To be considered in this category, a Veteran must have/be:
- Three or more activities of daily living (ADL) dependencies
- Significant cognitive impairment
- Receiving hospice services
- Two ADL dependencies and two or more of the following:
- 3 or more instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) dependencies
- Recently discharged from a nursing facility
- 75 years old or greater
- 3 hospitalizations or 12 outpatient clinics or emergency evaluations
- Clinically depressed
- Lives alone