Residential Care Assistance Program Indiana (RCAP)

What RCAP Covers That Medicaid Doesn't

Indiana's Residential Care Assistance Program fills a gap that confuses most families: Medicaid waivers do not pay for room and board in assisted living or residential care facilities. They cover personal care services, care coordination, and clinical oversight — but the actual cost of housing and meals falls on the resident.

RCAP steps in specifically for room and board. The program provides state-funded financial assistance in participating licensed residential care facilities and county homes for people who cannot live independently due to age or cognitive impairment but don't meet the clinical threshold for nursing home care.

That middle ground matters. Many people with early-to-mid-stage dementia need a supervised living environment but don't yet require 24/7 skilled nursing. Without RCAP, their only options are paying out of pocket or waiting until their condition deteriorates to nursing-facility level of care and then applying for Medicaid.

Eligibility Requirements

RCAP has strict financial criteria:

• Asset limit: $2,000 for a single individual. For married couples where both apply, $3,000 combined.
• Income limit: $1,658.01 per month for residents in licensed participating facilities.
• Functional requirement: The individual must be unable to live independently due to age or cognitive impairment. They do not need to meet Nursing Facility Level of Care — RCAP is designed for people below that threshold.

Standard asset exemptions apply: one vehicle of any value, the primary residence (if a spouse or dependent child still lives there), irrevocable prepaid burial arrangements, and personal household goods.

RCAP is administered by the FSSA Division of Disability, Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DDARS) through the Bureau of Better Aging. The participating RCAP facility assists with the application; a family member, guardian, or advocate may also help complete it.

How RCAP Compares to Other Programs

RCAP occupies a specific niche between the CHOICE program and Medicaid waiver services:

CHOICE has no income limit and covers home-based services (homemaker, transportation, adult day care, meals) for people 60+ who need help with at least two ADLs. But CHOICE doesn't cover room and board in a facility and can't be used if Medicaid is available for those services.

PathWays Waiver (for those 60+) covers personal care and clinical services but requires Nursing Facility Level of Care and Medicaid financial eligibility. The waiver waitlist currently has over 11,000 people.

RCAP covers room and board specifically, works for people who don't meet NFLOC, and has no waitlist of the same magnitude. The trade-off is the very tight financial limits and the requirement that the facility participate in the program — not every residential care community does.

If your parent's income is under $1,658.01 and their assets are under $2,000, RCAP can make residential care affordable without waiting years for a waiver slot.

How to Apply

Contact a participating RCAP facility to start the application. Indiana has 16 AAAs — CICOA covers the Indianapolis metro, and each region has its own office. A family member, guardian, or advocate may assist with the application, and the facility can help identify the supporting documentation required.

You'll need your parent's financial documentation (bank statements, Social Security award letter, any pension or retirement income records) and medical records that document the cognitive or physical impairments making independent living unsafe.

The Indiana Dementia & Memory Care Guide maps Indiana's three major care-funding programs — Medicaid waiver, CHOICE, and RCAP — side by side with eligibility thresholds, so you can identify which program fits your parent's financial and clinical situation without cross-referencing multiple state websites.

See more Indiana guides →