Resources for caregivers

Caregiving can be challenging and isolating. You can find support from these resources, which cover everything from healthcare to housing to financial help.

Local resources

Guide for Caregivers
This guide is an important starting point for Rhode Island caregivers. You’ll find tips and resources for getting the support you need, being an advocate for your loved one, qualifying for financial help, finding housing and day programs, creating legal documents, and more.

Rhode Island Office of Healthy Aging
You’ll find a range of details about services for seniors, transportation, links to resources, and other information that can help you care for your loved one.

Rhode Island Department of Human Services
This site offers information on services for families, adults, children, seniors, individuals with disabilities, and veterans, including food assistance, cash assistance, child care assistance, and Medicaid.

Rhode Island Temporary Caregiver Insurance
With this insurance, qualified Rhode Island workers can receive up to four weeks of wage replacement benefits to take time from work to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, or grandparent.

CareBreaks
This program helps give Rhode Island unpaid caregivers a break—and may also provide financial assistance for that break—while their loved one receives care from qualified individuals.

Visiting Veterans Corps
Through this community-based program, former military members visit elderly and disabled veterans in Rhode Island. Through face-to-face visits and phone calls, the visitors keep veterans connected to their communities.

Neighborhood Friendly Visitor Program
Volunteers visit elderly or disabled adults through this community-based program. Disabled adults and adults who are 60 and older are eligible for this program if they are homebound or in an elderly care facility.

Ocean State Center for Independent Living
This nonprofit provides a range of independent living services to enhance the quality of life of people with disabilities.

Rhode Island Department of Health, Office of Special Care Needs
For families of children with special needs, this office provides support, guidance, and encouragement regarding the healthcare of children, from birth through adulthood.

Rhode Island Developmental Disability Council
The Council connects you with local and national resources on education, employment, finances, disability rights, and more.

Paul V. Sherlock Center on Disabilities
The center helps individuals with disabilities participate fully in their communities by focusing on early intervention and education; transition, employment, and adult life; leadership development; and higher education.

Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals
This agency serves Rhode Islanders who live with a mental illness, substance use disorder, and/or a developmental disability.

Alzheimer’s Association of Rhode Island
The association offers a 24/7 helpline, support groups, online message boards, a community resource center, and a caregiver center.

Rhode Island Bar Association
Everyone aged 60 or older is eligible for a free, half-hour consultation with an attorney. In many communities, legal clinics or Ask A Lawyer programs are designed to provide you with information concerning relatively simple matters.

National resources 

U.S. Social Security Administration
Your loved one may be able to apply for Social Security disability benefits.

Disability Resources
The resources on this U.S. Department of Labor page cover benefits, health, civil rights, employment, housing, emergency preparedness, and more.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
If you’re caring for a veteran, find information on the benefits that may be available to them, from medical coverage to in-home support.

Family Caregiver Alliance
This community-based nonprofit organization addresses the needs of families and friends who provide long-term care for loved ones at home.