VA Family Caregiver PCAFC: Eligibility and Applying Together

By Moogwang Jin, Publisher — GovMoneyMap Research
Eligibility and application details checked: October 17, 2026

You and the Veteran you care for must apply together for VA’s Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC). For a new application, the Veteran needs a service-connected VA rating of at least 70% and at least six continuous months of in-person personal care. Both of you must also meet the other eligibility requirements and complete the evaluation.

PCAFC provides caregiver training and other support. A designated Primary Family Caregiver can also receive a monthly stipend, a payment that helps support caregiving. Being a family member, enrolling the Veteran in VA health care, or cutting your work hours does not automatically qualify you for that payment.

This guide covers new applications for care at home. PCAFC includes Veterans from all service eras. Participants must reside in a U.S. state, Washington, DC, or a covered U.S. territory.

Check the Veteran’s rating, care needs, and care arrangements

For a new PCAFC application, check all of these conditions:

• Veteran or medical-discharge status: The person is a Veteran or a service member undergoing medical discharge with a discharge date issued.
• A service-connected disability rating of at least 70%: This can be one disability or a combined VA rating. The qualifying injury or illness must have been incurred or aggravated in the line of duty.
• A need for at least six continuous months of in-person personal care: The need must fit one or more of the care categories explained below.
• VA health care and ongoing primary care: VA health care enrollment is required. The Veteran must receive ongoing care from a primary care team that includes a VA provider, or will do so upon caregiver designation.
• Care at home: The Veteran receives care at home or will do so if a caregiver is designated. VA must also make a clinical determination that participation is likely to benefit the Veteran.
• No regular, simultaneous duplication of the same care: The personal care you would provide cannot also be regularly provided at the same time by another person or organization.

The six-month care requirement can be met through an inability to perform an activity of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, or feeding. For this category, the Veteran needs hands-on assistance each time the relevant activity is performed.

Physical assistance is not the only qualifying care category. A Veteran can also need supervision or protection because of symptoms or effects of a neurological or other impairment or injury. Another category covers regular or extensive instruction or supervision without which the Veteran’s ability to function in daily life would be seriously impaired.

Prepare to describe the actual help: what you do, how often it is needed, and what would happen without it. If someone else already provides home care, list their tasks and schedule so the team can assess whether the services overlap.

If VA health care enrollment still needs attention, use our VA health care enrollment guide. A service member undergoing medical discharge can apply for VA health care before or after submitting the caregiver application.

Check your eligibility as the caregiver

You must be at least 18 and meet either the family-relationship requirement or the full-time residence requirement. Qualifying relatives include a spouse, child, parent, stepfamily member, or extended family member. Someone who is not a qualifying relative must live with the Veteran full time or agree to do so if designated.

You must be able to perform the Veteran’s specific care tasks, complete required training, and participate with the Veteran in the initial home-care assessment. There must be no VA determination that you abused or neglected the Veteran. These requirements apply to both Primary and Secondary applicants.

Choose Primary and Secondary roles before applying

A Veteran can have one Primary Family Caregiver and up to two Secondary Family Caregivers. The Primary is the main caregiver. Secondary caregivers provide backup support when needed. Decide which role each person is requesting before completing the form.

Both roles can receive caregiver education and training, mental health counseling, and certain travel benefits when accompanying the Veteran for care. The monthly stipend is for the designated Primary caregiver, not each person who helps. Its amount depends on the Veteran’s locality and assessed care level, rather than your lost wages or a timesheet of hours.

Eligible Primary caregivers can also receive at least 30 days of respite care per year, meaning care for the Veteran while the caregiver takes a break. Primary caregivers may qualify for CHAMPVA health coverage, but that coverage has separate conditions, including whether they are entitled to care or services under another health plan. A stipend does not automatically establish CHAMPVA eligibility.

Prepare the joint application and signatures

Use VA Form 10-10CG, the PCAFC application. Have identifying and contact information ready for the Veteran and each caregiver applicant. Complete the questions for each person’s role, and check that the Veteran and every caregiver applicant have signed and dated their sections.

Signing for the Veteran requires authority to do so. If you sign on the Veteran’s behalf, submit documentation establishing authority to make decisions or complete and sign applications for the Veteran. Accepted documents include a valid power of attorney, a legal guardianship order, another qualifying state legal document, or an applicable VA alternate-signer or representative appointment form. Being the Veteran’s spouse alone does not establish that authority.

Separately, make notes about the care you provide, when the need began, and its expected duration. Use those notes to prepare for the evaluation; they are not a substitute for the application.

Submit online, by mail, or through the local VA team

Choose one submission route:

• Online: Start the joint PCAFC application.
• By mail: Get the current application from the VA Form 10-10CG download page. Send the completed form and applicable supporting documents to the 10-10CG Evidence Intake Center, PO Box 5154, Janesville, WI 53547-5154.
• In person: Bring the completed form to the caregiver support team at the Veteran’s local VA medical center.

Do not send medical records with the application. If relevant records are outside VA, tell the caregiver support team. You can arrange to submit those records separately to the program or ask for help obtaining them for the eligibility review.

Keep a copy of the completed application and any submission confirmation or mailing record. That gives you the information needed to ask about receipt without starting another application unnecessarily.

Connect with the team and complete the evaluation

Use the VA caregiver support team directory, select your state, and choose the VA health care system where the Veteran receives or plans to receive care. Use that system’s caregiver support contact to request application help or check receipt and status.

After submission, the local team contacts the Veteran and caregiver applicants to review eligibility and arrange the evaluation. Be ready to explain the Veteran’s personal care needs and demonstrate your ability to provide the required care. Caregiver education, training, and an initial home-care assessment must be completed before designation.

The required steps generally must be completed within 90 days after VA receives the joint application. Missing that period can lead to denial and a requirement to apply again. VA may extend the period when its own inability to complete the required evaluations, training, or home assessment is solely responsible for the delay. Ask the team to confirm the receipt date and remaining appointments.

Receipt of the application is not approval or a payment award. Complete the evaluation and get the designation decision before treating the stipend as available income. A designated Primary caregiver must also enroll in direct deposit to receive the monthly stipend; ask the team about payment setup after designation.

If PCAFC does not fit, ask about general caregiver support

The Program of General Caregiver Support Services (PGCSS) offers skills training, coaching, peer support, and referrals for caregivers of Veterans enrolled in VA health care who need personal care. It does not provide the PCAFC monthly stipend, and its caregivers do not have to be relatives or live with the Veteran.

Ask the same local caregiver support team for a PGCSS intake or request a referral from the Veteran’s provider. There is no formal PGCSS application. The Veteran must agree to receive care from you, and the team helps connect you with suitable services.

GovMoneyMap is an independent information site, not the Department of Veterans Affairs. This article provides general information; individual eligibility and caregiver designation require VA’s evaluation.