{"id":118043,"date":"2026-09-04T12:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T16:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/?p=118043"},"modified":"2026-09-10T14:50:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T18:50:38","slug":"history-and-origins-of-vas-domiciliary-care-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/history-and-origins-of-vas-domiciliary-care-program\/","title":{"rendered":"History and Origins of VA&#8217;s Domiciliary Care Program"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kb-image118043_2e28a8-2e .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image118043_2e28a8-2e\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"533\" height=\"296\" src=\"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-04-094050.webp?w=533\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-04-094050.webp?w=533\" alt=\"NHDVS Logo\" class=\"lazyload kb-img wp-image-118044\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27533%27%20height%3D%27296%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20533%20296%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27533%27%20height%3D%27296%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-04-094050.webp?resize=300,167 300w, https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-04-094050.webp 533w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 533px) 100vw, 533px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe History and Origins of VA\u2019s Domiciliary Care Program\u201d was compiled and written in 2014 by Jamie R. Plopper of VA\u2019s Office of Mental Health and Paul Smits of VA\u2019s National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans. The report traces the evolution of VA\u2019s Domiciliary Care Program from its origins as the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS) in 1865 to today\u2019s modern Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation and Treatment Programs. On March 3, 1865, the day before his second inauguration, President Abraham Lincoln signed a law to establish a national network of facilities for sick and injured Union Veterans who had served in the Civil War. The NHDVS, established by this legislation, was the first major Federal program to provide medical and rehabilitative services for Veterans, forming the basis of today\u2019s modern VA. The report also explores how rehabilitative and mental health programs have adapted over more than a century through expanding missions and services to meet the changing needs of Veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedbtn.kb-btns118043_3bc298-fa{gap:var(--global-kb-gap-xs, 0.5rem );justify-content:center;align-items:center;}.kt-btns118043_3bc298-fa .kt-button{font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;}.kt-btns118043_3bc298-fa .kt-btn-wrap-0{margin-right:5px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedbtn.kt-btns118043_3bc298-fa .kt-btn-wrap-0 .kt-button{color:#555555;border-color:#555555;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedbtn.kt-btns118043_3bc298-fa .kt-btn-wrap-0 .kt-button:hover, .wp-block-kadence-advancedbtn.kt-btns118043_3bc298-fa .kt-btn-wrap-0 .kt-button:focus{color:#ffffff;border-color:#444444;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedbtn.kt-btns118043_3bc298-fa .kt-btn-wrap-0 .kt-button::before{display:none;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedbtn.kt-btns118043_3bc298-fa .kt-btn-wrap-0 .kt-button:hover, .wp-block-kadence-advancedbtn.kt-btns118043_3bc298-fa .kt-btn-wrap-0 .kt-button:focus{background:#444444;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-advancedbtn kb-buttons-wrap kb-btns118043_3bc298-fa\"><style>ul.menu .wp-block-kadence-advancedbtn .kb-btn118043_fd21a0-b3.kb-button{width:initial;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedbtn .kb-btn118043_fd21a0-b3.kb-button{padding:var(--kb-btn-padding);margin:var(--kb-btn-margin);box-shadow:none;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedbtn .kb-btn118043_fd21a0-b3.kb-button:hover, .wp-block-kadence-advancedbtn .kb-btn118043_fd21a0-b3.kb-button:focus{box-shadow:var(--kb-btn-shadow-hover, none);}<\/style><a class=\"kb-button kt-button button kb-btn118043_fd21a0-b3 kt-btn-size-standard kt-btn-width-type-auto kb-btn-global-fill kt-btn-has-text-true kt-btn-has-svg-false wp-block-kadence-singlebtn\" href=\"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/09\/NHDVS-Dom_natl.pdf\"><span class=\"kt-btn-inner-text\">Download the Complete Report (PDF)<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS) report highlight Domiciliary, VA\u2019s oldest program. On March 3, 1865, the day before his second inauguration, President Lincoln signed a law to establish a national military and naval asylum for sick and injured Union Veterans who had served in the Civil War. The NHDVS established by this legislation, later known as VA Homes, then Domiciliaries, was the first major Federal program to provide hospitals, medical, and rehabilitative services exclusively to America\u2019s Veterans, until Congress passed legislation at the time of World War I to establish hospitals for returning Veterans under the Bureau of War Risk Insurance. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":118044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[143],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-in-depth"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/history-and-origins-of-vas-domiciliary-care-program\/","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"History and Origins of VA&#8217;s Domiciliary Care Program","url":"http:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/history-and-origins-of-vas-domiciliary-care-program\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/history-and-origins-of-vas-domiciliary-care-program\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-04-094050.webp?w=300","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/09\/Screenshot-2026-09-04-094050.webp"},"articleSection":"History in Depth","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"jasminebrown12"}],"creator":["jasminebrown12"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"VA History","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-09-04T16:52:15Z","datePublished":"2026-09-04T16:52:15Z","dateModified":"2026-09-10T18:50:38Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"History and Origins of VA&#8217;s Domiciliary Care Program\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/department.va.gov\\\/history\\\/history-and-origins-of-vas-domiciliary-care-program\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/department.va.gov\\\/history\\\/history-and-origins-of-vas-domiciliary-care-program\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/department.va.gov\\\/history\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Screenshot-2026-09-04-094050.webp?w=300\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/department.va.gov\\\/history\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Screenshot-2026-09-04-094050.webp\"},\"articleSection\":\"History in Depth\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"jasminebrown12\"}],\"creator\":[\"jasminebrown12\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"VA History\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[],\"dateCreated\":\"2026-09-04T16:52:15Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-04T16:52:15Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-10T18:50:38Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/department.va.gov\/p.js"},"meta_box":{"external_links":"0","endorsement":"0","subheading":"","featured_image_alt_text":"","byline":"","author_title":"","external_source":"","external_source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/258"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118043"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118059,"href":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118043\/revisions\/118059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}