Virginia Residential Alzheimer’s Care (Memory Care): Rules, Costs & Financial Help

Legal Definition of Assisted Living / Memory Care in Virginia

In Virginia, memory care is called special care units within assisted living residences. These communities are specifically for people with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia. They provide personal and healthcare services, 24-hour supervision, social and recreational activities, and anything else in residents’ personal service plans. Staff are trained to provide assistance with activities , like eating, bathing, managing money or and medications.

Anyone considering assisted living in Virginia is entitled to a disclosure statement from the home, with the following information:

• Ownership structure of the residence
• Description of services offered, including healthcare
• Description of fees, including an explanation of what’s provided for the base fee and all possible additional fees
• Criteria for admission
• Reasons a person can be evicted
• Residence’s liability insurance

An administrator at any memory care home in Virginia is required to give written assurance to a new resident that the facility can adequately provide for all health needs, based on the Uniform Assessment Instrument (see Admissions Requirements below).

Assisted living homes in Virginia are regulated by the Department of Social Services. There were about 240 memory care homes in Virginia as of 2024. There were also 145 board and care homes, which offer the same services as assisted living for 12 or fewer residents in a more house-like setting.

How Much Does Memory Care Cost in Virginia?

There can be significant differences in the cost of assisted living and memory care depending on what part of Virginia you are in. The table below lists the median monthly cost of both assisted living and memory care facilities in different regions of the state as of 2025. Individuals who are in the early to mid stages of dementia may be best suited for assisted living facilities, which are less expensive than memory care, while those with more severe symptoms or who are in the late stages of dementia will likely need memory care.

Virginia Assisted Living Laws & Regulations

Admissions Process & Requirements

Virginia memory care homes use the Uniform Assessment Instrument to evaluate the health and abilities of all residents. The assessment is usually filled out by a doctor or registered nurse who works for the residence. A personal doctor may also fill out this assessment. Anyone receiving state subsidies (see Financial Assistance below), will also be assessed by a health professional working for the state’s Department of Social Services. The Uniform Assessment Instrument, available via this link, must be completed 90 days before admission. All residents must also have a physical exam before admission.

The cost of assessments may be included in the base rate at the residence, or there may be a one-time community fee. If so, that would cover up front move-in costs like assessment, deep cleaning and painting a new resident’s room. Community fees usually run between $1,500 and $2,500.

Anyone with these conditions cannot be in assisted living in Virginia:

– Ventilator dependency
– Stage III or IV dermal ulcers
– Need for intravenous therapy or injections directly into veins
– Airborne infectious diseases requiring isolation
– Psychotropic medications without appropriate prescription
– Need for continuous nursing care
– Any physical or mental health needs that the residence cannot provide

Facility / Residence

Private units must be at least 100 square feet for a single, or 80 square feet per person if there are multiple occupants. Two is the maximum number of people allowed per bedroom, unless the residence was constructed before 2006. Assisted living older than 2006 can have up to four people in one bedroom. There must be one toilet and sink for every four residents, and a tub or shower for every seven.

Memory care units (within assisted living residences) must also have:

– Security monitoring for all doors that lead outside
– Protective devices on windows
– An easily accessed walking area

There are other physical design elements in memory care homes that you should look for, but are not explicitly required by Virginia regulations. Studies have shown that easily navigated layouts, bright lighting and paint colors, and circular hallways that don’t dead-end are beneficial for people with dementia.

Staff & Training

Every assisted living community in Virginia must have on its staff a licensed healthcare professional qualified to provide oversight on the care of residents. They also need someone licensed to review medications, special diets, and a licensed nurse. Each staff member must be certified in first aid, and must keep the certification current. One CPR-certified employee must be working at all times.

There is no specific staff-to-resident ratio in Virginia. Rather, regulations say there must be a sufficient number of workers, each with adequate knowledge and skills, to provide for the well-being of every resident and implement a fire plan or emergency evacuation.

Anyone working directly with residents must have 18 hours of annual training in skills and knowledge directly related to the residence’s population. Administrators must be at least 21, with a high school diploma and at least 30 credit hours from a college or university, in classes directly related to the job. They also must be licensed by the Virginia Board of Long-Term Care Administrators. Twenty hours of state-approved training are required annually.

Evictions & Discharges

Unfair evictions can be a problem nationwide, so it’s important before moving into a memory care home as to their rules about evictions before signing a contract. Virginia requires that anyone who might move into an assisted living home be given a written statement with information including criteria for discharge. This means Virginia residences have their own rules for kicking someone out, and they must be provided in writing.

Generally, someone can be evicted if they need medical care that staff are unable to provide. If a memory care home can’t care for someone who is non-ambulatory then a person who loses the ability to walk would need to be evicted. Other examples might be someone who needs to be fed intravenously, or develops an illness requiring full-time nursing care. It’s also important to know if aggressive behavior might get someone evicted.

Can your loved one be asked to leave if bills are not paid on time? And what is the process of eviction? How much warning is provided? The standard is 30 days. And what is the process for appeal?

Again, it’s important to be clear on how and why your loved one can be evicted before moving into a memory care home. Ask these questions and get the answers in writing. If you receive an eviction notice and need to know next steps, click here.

Financial Assistance For Residential Alzheimer’s Memory Care

Commonwealth Coordinated Care Plus Medicaid Waiver

The Commonwealth Coordinated Care Plus Medicaid Waiver (CCC+) serves over 250,000 people in Virginia by providing help with medical, behavioral health, and long-term care services. Benefits of this program include case management, personal care assistance, help covering costs of assistive devices, physical therapy, lab tests, and more. Eligible recipients are assigned a care coordinator who works with providers in their parts of the state. A waitlist can apply because there is an annual enrollment cap (47,283 as of 2024.)

To qualify for CCC+, applicants have to meet two financial eligibility requirements – an asset limit ($2,000 for an individual as of 2026) and an income limit ($2,982/month as of 2026) – as well as the medical criteria of needing a Nursing Facility Level of Care (NFLOC). It’s important to note that a dementia diagnosis does not always equate to a NFLOC.

Virginia Adult Services

The non-Medicaid state program helps people in low-income families pay for a number of specific services with the intention of keeping a person out of full-time nursing care. These include nutritional counseling, assessments for assisted living residences, transportation to appointments, case management, chore services, and more. An assessor for the state will determine the amount of care, including how many hours weekly, a person receiving this benefit requires. Financial eligibility depends on where someone lives in the state. For more information, contact the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services.

Virginia Auxiliary Grants

Virginia Auxiliary Grants can help cover assisted living costs for people who also receive Supplemental Security Income. The application criteria are incredibly complex, but among the qualifiers are a need for help with activities of daily living (like bathing, eating, and dressing), a need for assistance with taking medications, and difficulty controlling disruptive behavior (as people who have Alzheimer’s are known to exhibit). Someone must already be in assisted living or adult day care to apply. People who receive auxiliary grants must be assessed annually by the Department of Social Services. For a brochure on the program, click here. Apply through the Department of Social Services.

Veterans Affairs (VA)

Qualified Virginia veterans (or their surviving spouses) with dementia can also receive financial assistance through a Veterans Affairs (VA) Pension that they could use to pay for assisted living or memory care.

There are three levels of VA Pensions – Basic, Aid & Attendance (A&A) and Housebound. To qualify for any of them, veterans or their surviving spouses need to meet a net worth limit of $163,699 (effective Dec. 1, 2025 – Nov. 30, 2026), which is calculated by adding the total of their assets to their annual income. Some assets are exempt, like a primary home, primary vehicle and household furniture and appliances. VA Pension applicants also have to meet an income limit to be eligible – their income must be less than the VA Pension they are applying for in order for them to qualify. And veterans must meet a military service requirement, which includes not having received a dishonorable discharge.

To qualify for A&A, veterans or their surviving spouses must also meet a medical requirement, which is one of the following must be true:

• They need help to perform the Activities of Daily Living (mobility, bathing, dressing/grooming, eating, toileting) OR
• They have to stay in bed for at least a large portion of the day due to illness OR
• They are in a nursing home due to loss of mental or physical abilities OR
• Their eyesight is extremely limited (5/200 or less in both eyes even with glasses or contacts; or concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or fewer)

To qualify for Housebound, veterans must spend most of their time in their home due to a permanent disability.

There is no medical requirement for VA Basic Pensions.

Qualified veterans or their surviving spouses are entitled to their Maximum Annual Pension Rate (MAPR) minus their annual income. The following MAPRs are effective from Dec. 1, 2025 to Nov. 30, 2026:

VA Basic Pension MAPRs

• Veterans without spouses or children: $17,441
• Veterans with dependent spouses or children: $22,839
• Surviving spouses without dependent children: $11,699
• Surviving spouses with dependent children: $15,311
• Two veterans married to each other: $22,839

VA Aid & Attendance MAPRs

• Veterans without spouses or children: $29,093
• Veterans with dependent spouses or children: $34,488
• Surviving spouses without dependent children a maximum of $18,697
• Surviving spouses with dependent children: $22,304
• Two veterans married to each other and one qualifies for A&A: $33,548
• Two veterans married to each other and one qualifies for A&A and one for Housebound: $38,350
• Two veterans married to each other and both qualify for A&A: $46,143

VA Housebound MAPRs

• Veterans without spouses or children: $21,313
• Veterans with dependent spouses or children: $26,710
• Surviving spouses without dependent children: $14,298
• Surviving spouses with dependent children: $17,902
• Two veterans married to each other and one qualifies for Housebound: $26,710
• Two veterans married to each other and both qualify for Housebound: $30,580
• Two veterans married to each other and one qualifies Housebound and the other for A&A: $38,350

Veterans Homes

There are also two veterans’ homes in Virginia, which are residential care facilities that provide long-term care for veterans. They are the Virginia Veterans Care Center in Richmond and the Sitter & Barfoot Veterans Care Center in Roanoke. In addition to nursing home care and assisted living, memory care is provided. Neighboring states have more veterans’ homes, so a loved one might consider looking there for more options as there are no requirements that one must live in the state. For example, North Carolina has four veterans homes statewide and several are located relatively close to their shared border. Additionally, West Virginia has two facilities and Maryland has one home. More info.

Supplemental Security Income

Dementia patients age 65 and over with limited income and assets may qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). These funds can be used to pay for the cost of assisted living or memory care. As of 2026, the maximum SSI benefit for an individual is $994/month and for a married couple it’s $1,491/month.

To qualify for SSI, applicants must be age 65 and over or have a significant disability, and they must meet an income limit and an asset limit. As of 2026, individuals may meet the SSI income limit if they earn less than $2,073/month OR they get less than $1,014/month from non-work sources, like Social Security benefits or pension payments. They may meet the SSI asset limit if they have $2,000 or less in countable assets. For couples, the income limit is $3,067/month in work income or $1,511/month in non-work income, and the asset limit is $3,000.

Other Options

1)Elder care loans exist for families to cover the costs of moving into memory care while waiting for other financial resources to become available. For example, if one is waiting for a VA pension to be approved or waiting to sell a home. More on bridge loans for memory care.

2) Some tax credits and deductions can provide financial relief for seniors with dementia and their families. Seniors with limited financial resources can claim the Credit for the Elderly and/or the Disabled, as long as no one can claim them as a dependent. If someone (like an adult child) can claim the senior as a dependent, they can utilize the Child and Dependent Care Credit, and they can deduct any medical or dental expenses they paid for the senior.

3) A reverse mortgage loan can be a viable option for some senior homeowners who are in need of extra income to help pay dementia care. However, reverse mortgages are not recommended for every senior homeowner who needs extra income, so it’s important to consult with a professional before taking out one of these loans.