Benefits Offered By The VA Caregiver Program

Benefits Offered by the VA Caregiver Program

What is the Caregivers Program?

The VA’s Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers was implemented in 2011 to provide benefits to caregivers of post-9/11 disabled veterans. Caregivers are typically spouses or family members who end up leaving their jobs to care for a veteran full-time due to the severity or nature of the veteran’s disability. The Caregivers Program provides the caregivers with monthly compensation, medical training, healthcare benefits, and respite.

Expansion of Caregiver Program

In 2018 the VA Mission Act expanded the Caregivers Program by providing benefits to caregivers of pre-9/11 veterans in addition to post-9/11 veterans. This expansion of benefits to include eligible veterans from all eras of service will be implemented over the course of several years, in two phases:

1. Caregiver benefits will first become available to veterans who were injured on or before May 7, 1975
2. Further expansion of caregiver benefits to include veterans injured between 1975 and 2001 will occur two years later.

Services Available to Caregivers in the Caregiver Program

Through the Caregivers Program, caregivers of eligible veterans can receive the following:

• Monthly stipend
• Travel expenses
• Access to health care insurance
• Mental health services and counseling
• Comprehensive VA caregiver training
• Respite care

To apply for Caregiver Program benefits, veterans must fill out and submit VA Form 10-10CG, Instructions for Completing Application for the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers.