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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Homemaker and Home Health Aide program sends a trained in-home caregiver into a veteran's home to help with bathing, dressing, meals, light housekeeping, and getting to appointments, within the weekly hours the VA authorizes. Specialty Care Services is an in-network provider in the VA Community Care Network (CCN) for this program and a licensed senior home care agency based in Silver Spring, Maryland. We have served aging veterans referred by the Washington DC VA Medical Center for years.

What the Program Covers

Under a VA authorization, our aide can help the veteran with:

• Bathing, dressing, grooming, and toileting
• Transfers and help moving safely around the home
• Light meal preparation and help with eating
• Light housekeeping, laundry, and keeping the living space safe
• Escort to medical appointments within the authorized hours
• Companion care and a second set of eyes on how an elderly veteran is doing day to day

What the Program Does Not Cover

The aide is not a nurse. Under the VA program our aides do not give medications, perform wound care or other nursing tasks, handle the veteran's money, provide transportation in their own vehicle, or care for anyone in the household other than the veteran. If the veteran needs those things, we will tell the family who to ask at the VA.

How Hours Are Set, and How to Ask for More

The VA care team decides how many hours a week are authorized, based on a clinical assessment of what the veteran can and cannot do alone. The agency does not set hours and cannot add them. If the hours feel short, the path is through the veteran's VA primary care provider, who can update the assessment and request a change. Our nurse's reassessment notes can go with the family to that appointment.

Respite for Family Caregivers

If a spouse, son, or daughter is the main caregiver, the VA can also authorize respite hours so a trained aide covers while the family caregiver works, rests, or handles their own life. This includes caregivers enrolled in the VA Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC). Respite comes through the same VA referral path. Ask the VA social worker about it directly.

Why Veterans and Families Choose Specialty Care Services

• The same aide on every visit wherever the schedule allows. We keep a small roster on purpose so nobody gets lost.
• A registered nurse (RN) meets the veteran at home before care starts and reassesses regularly. Day-to-day care comes from a certified nursing assistant (CNA).
• We accept the referral in the VA's system, call the family within one business day, and usually start care within days.
• We communicate directly with the VA social worker and track authorization renewals so care does not lapse.
• Licensed Maryland Residential Service Agency, locally owned since 2000, Better Business Bureau accredited.

How to Request Specialty Care Services by Name 

Veterans can ask for a specific agency. Tell your VA social worker or primary care provider: 

"Please send my Homemaker and Home Health Aide referral to Specialty Care Services in Silver Spring, Maryland." If you are already receiving care from another agency and want to switch, you can ask the social worker to move the referral. 

Where We Serve Veterans 

In-home care for veterans in Silver Spring and across Montgomery County, Howard County, Anne Arundel County, Frederick County, Prince George's County (including Clinton, Fort Washington, Accokeek, and Waldorf), and Washington, DC. Other areas are case by case depending on hours and staffing. Call and ask.

Call us or request a call back and ask about Veterans Affairs home care.