Virginia's Auxiliary Grant can meaningfully lower the cost of licensed assisted living for low-income seniors in Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax. Here's how it works and who administers it.
By DC Senior Advisor Care Team · February 12, 2026
The Auxiliary Grant (AG) is a Virginia state supplement to Supplemental Security Income (SSI), specifically designed to help low-income aged, blind, or disabled Virginians afford the cost of licensed assisted living. Unlike a home-and-community-based Medicaid waiver, the Auxiliary Grant is paid directly toward the cost of care in a Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS)-licensed assisted living facility under 22VAC40-73 — it is not available for in-home care, independent living, or a facility outside Virginia. For Northern Virginia families in Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax, where private-pay assisted living often runs toward the higher end of the region's $5,500-$8,500 monthly range, the Auxiliary Grant can be the difference between a parent affording licensed care in-state and having to look elsewhere.
The program is jointly administered: the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) sets policy and administers benefit levels, while local Departments of Social Services process individual applications and eligibility determinations. This is worth stating plainly because it's a frequent point of confusion — VDSS licenses the assisted living facility itself, but DARS (working through local DSS offices) is the agency behind the actual Auxiliary Grant payment and, separately, behind Virginia's Adult Protective Services program.
Eligibility generally requires meeting Virginia's SSI-linked income and asset limits, needing assistance with activities of daily living at a level that qualifies for licensed assisted living (rather than independent living), and choosing a facility that accepts Auxiliary Grant residents — not every Virginia assisted living facility does, so this needs to be confirmed before a family gets attached to a specific community. The grant amount is set by the state and is paid directly to the facility on the resident's behalf, on top of whatever the resident contributes from their own SSI or Social Security income.
As a clinical social worker who has coordinated discharges out of Virginia Hospital Center and Inova Fairfax Hospital, I tell Northern Virginia families the same thing every time: start the Auxiliary Grant application and the facility search in parallel, not sequentially. Waiting for an approval letter before touring communities wastes weeks a family often doesn't have, and not every Arlington, Alexandria, or Fairfax facility that looks affordable on paper actually has an open Auxiliary Grant-accepting bed.
The application starts at the local Department of Social Services in the jurisdiction where your parent currently lives or intends to reside — Arlington County DSS, the City of Alexandria DSS, or Fairfax County DSS — since eligibility and processing happen at the local level even though DARS sets statewide policy. Bring proof of income, assets, Virginia residency, and a physician's statement of functional need for assisted-living-level care. The Arlington Area Agency on Aging, the Alexandria Division of Aging and Adult Services, and the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging can all point families toward the right DSS contact and often help pre-screen for likely eligibility before a full application is filed.
One more thing worth knowing: because the Auxiliary Grant only pays toward Virginia-licensed assisted living, a Northern Virginia family should not assume it will apply if a parent later needs to move to a DC or Maryland community closer to a different relative — DC's EPD Waiver and Maryland's Community Options Waiver are entirely separate programs administered by entirely separate agencies. A free advisor familiar with all three jurisdictions can help a family understand, up front, whether staying in Virginia to preserve Auxiliary Grant eligibility makes sense for their specific situation.
The most common delay isn't a denial — it's an incomplete application sitting in a queue at the local Department of Social Services because a required document is missing. Income and asset documentation, proof of Virginia residency, and the physician's statement of functional need all need to be current and complete when the application is filed, not supplied piecemeal over several follow-up calls. A second common delay happens when a family applies before confirming the target facility actually accepts Auxiliary Grant residents, which can force a restart if the community backs out mid-process.
A third delay worth watching for: because DARS sets policy while local DSS offices process applications, sometimes a family gets inconsistent guidance depending on which office they call first. When in doubt, confirm directly with the Arlington, Alexandria, or Fairfax Area Agency on Aging which local DSS contact is currently handling Auxiliary Grant intake, since staffing and process details can shift year to year.
Arrive at the local Department of Social Services appointment with recent bank statements, proof of Social Security or other income, a copy of the physician's statement of functional need, proof of Virginia residency, and identification for both the applicant and, if applicable, the person helping manage their affairs. Incomplete paperwork is the single most common reason an otherwise-eligible application sits unprocessed for weeks.
It also helps to bring a list of the specific Arlington, Alexandria, or Fairfax communities under consideration, since the DSS caseworker can sometimes confirm on the spot whether a facility currently participates in the Auxiliary Grant program, saving a follow-up call later in the process.
Before touring, ask each Arlington, Alexandria, or Fairfax community directly how many Auxiliary Grant beds it currently has open, not just whether it accepts the program in general. Some communities cap the number of Auxiliary Grant residents they'll take at any one time, and a facility that accepted Auxiliary Grant residents last year may have no open slot today.
A free advisor who tracks current Auxiliary Grant availability across Northern Virginia can save a family from falling in love with a community that turns out to have no open Auxiliary Grant bed for months, and can suggest a comparable alternative with actual current availability instead.
Free, no pressure, and no one rushing you. We answer to families, not to facilities.