Rhode Island program
A break from caring (CareBreaks)
CareBreaks is a respite referral to discuss with your social worker. The office must confirm whether it serves your child.
What it is
CareBreaks is a respite referral to discuss with your social worker. The office must confirm whether it serves your child.
Caring for a child through treatment can leave a parent or relative with very little rest. Respite means someone else covers a period of care. The service needs to assess which support fits the family.
Eligibility rules
- The CareBreaks office must confirm its age, medical and financial rules for your family. Your social worker can also check Medicaid Respite Services for Children. That separate program requires a child under 21 to meet Medicaid and institutional-level-of-care criteria.
What you get
- A chance to discuss respite options and the help your family needs.
What this covers
- The office must confirm whether your family can receive a voucher, how many hours it covers and your cost. The person covering care must be able to meet your child’s needs safely. Skilled nursing tasks need clinical approval and qualified staff; ordinary respite does not replace nursing.
If you decide to apply
- Ask your hospital social worker to check the current CareBreaks contact and whether it serves your child.
- Ask the hospital social worker to help with a referral and questions about available hours, fees and waiting lists.
Hospital social worker; Office of Healthy Aging · Official page ↗
What happens next
- The Office of Healthy Aging and its contractor assess the request.
- Your social worker can ask the Office of Healthy Aging for the current CareBreaks referral contact, pediatric eligibility, funding and waiting-list information. EOHHS Children’s Services also lists a separate Medicaid respite route for children who qualify.
Good to know
Respite is only useful when the person covering care can meet your child's needs safely.
Other details
- The number of adults in a household does not measure how much rest the caregiver gets.
Official sources
“Could respite give our family a manageable break, and what would it cost? Would the available care meet our child's needs, and could you help us request an assessment?”
Why I’m asking: I want to know whether someone could safely cover a period of care so we can rest.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Ring and say plainly how much care is falling on one person.
Your social worker
The hospital social worker can make the referral.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- The state office and its contractor.
- Ask your social worker
- “One of us is doing all of the caring. Is there respite we can ask for?”
How to apply
First step: Call 401-421-7833 and describe the care at home.
- Call 401-421-7833 and describe who is doing the caring and how much.
- Ask whether there is a waiting list before you plan around it.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Call and ask what respite is available for a family caring for a child.
What to gather
The diagnosis letter, the child’s insurance card, and the last two pay stubs cover most applications. The official page lists the rest.
Watch out
- The voucher amount and the income rules were not published. Ring and ask.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 10, 2026.
What it is worth
Free or low-cost respite hours so the person doing the caring can rest.
Covers: Respite hours for a family caregiver
What it costs the family: Free or low cost; the exact amount was not published.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Other
- family caregivers; the financial rules outside Medicaid were not published
The trap: The voucher amount and the financial rules outside Medicaid were not published, so ring and ask rather than assuming you are over a line.
Where I read this
- RI Office of Healthy Aging — CareBreaks — Rhode Island Office of Healthy Aging, read September 10, 2026