Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Colorado program

Monthly cash aid (Colorado Works)

Colorado Works provides monthly cash help for eligible families raising a child.

What it is

Colorado Works provides monthly cash help for eligible families raising a child.

Cash assistance can help with costs that insurance does not cover. Colorado Works does not screen out a family simply for savings or a car. A relative raising a child may qualify for a child-only grant.

Eligibility rules
  • A child must live with a parent or qualifying caretaker. The assistance unit can differ from everyone at the same address.
  • For a parent with two children, income after deductions must be under $421 a month and the grant is up to $620. A child-only grant for one child is up to $173, for three children $543.
  • The county takes $90 off wages before the entry test; once you are on, it ignores two-thirds of earnings.
  • A qualifying nonparent relative may request a child-only grant without counting the relative's income as the child's. The county checks legal relationship, child income, foster payments and SSI. A person receiving SSI is excluded from the cash-payment calculation.
  • The ordinary adult-caretaker lifetime limit is 60 months, with qualifying good-cause extensions. The county confirms caregiving exemptions, required documents and the duration and conditions of any medical absence.
What you get
  • Monthly cash assistance when the county finds your family eligible.
  • A possible child-only grant for a qualifying relative caregiver.
What the help includes
  • The county can instead offer a one-off diversion payment for a short-term need, worth up to four months of aid; taking it means no monthly aid for that period. (one bullet)
If you decide to apply
  1. Talk with your social worker about Colorado Works, its conditions and whether a PEAK or county application fits your family.
  2. Have current income and caregiving information ready, and explain who is raising the child.

PEAK or county human-services office · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The county determines the assistance unit, income calculation and grant type. A child-only request depends on the actual legal and caregiving arrangement.
Good to know

Colorado Works has no savings or asset test. The county still checks the income and people included in the cash-assistance unit.

Other details
  • Grant amounts are frozen until at least July 2028.
  • A hospital stay does not automatically end or preserve cash eligibility. Intensive caregiving and medical absences need the county's review under the applicable conditions.

Federal background: TANF cash assistance, called Colorado Works.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could Colorado Works help with household bills during treatment, and what conditions would come with the cash assistance? If it fits our family, could you help us apply for the right kind of grant?”

Why I’m asking: I want to know whether cash help could cover basic costs while treatment changes our income.

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

Apply the month income drops, and ask for the child-only grant if a relative is raising the child.

Your social worker

The county worker decides and sets the payment.

The care team

Nothing.

Who decides
The county human-services office.
Ask your social worker
“Can you help us apply for Colorado Works? A relative is raising my grandchild, so please ask about the child-only grant.”

How to apply

First step: Apply on PEAK at co.gov/peak or at the county office the month the income drops.

  1. Apply the month the income drops, not later.
  2. If a relative is raising the child, ask for the child-only grant by name.
  3. If savings are raised as a problem, ask the worker to check the no-asset-test rule.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Apply on PEAK at co.gov/peak or at the county office.

What to gather

  • This month's income
  • Who lives in the home and who is raising the child

How long: Unknown. Colorado's promptness standard for this was not published where it could be read.

What a yes looks like

A monthly payment amount and a start date.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask which test the no was based on, in writing, and check it was not savings.

Watch out

  • A county page mentions resource limits. The statute says there is no asset test, and the statute controls.
  • The grant amounts and the entry line were not published, so ask the county to work out yours.
  • The grant does not rise with the cost of living for the state years from July 2026 and July 2027.

If they say no, quote this: Colorado Revised Statutes 26-2-706: "An asset test shall not be applied as a condition of eligibility for participation in the works program."

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Monthly cash aid with no asset test. The assistance unit's adults and children determine its income test and grant; qualifying nonparent relatives can have a child-only route.

  • $60 — Ordinary lifetime limit for the adult caretaker
  • $4 — Maximum length of a short-term assistance payment

Legal protection: No asset test applies to Colorado Works · The county must confirm how medical absence affects household continuity, duration and any work exemption; a hospital stay does not automatically establish all exceptions. · A person receiving SSI is not counted when the payment is worked out · Counties must offer good-cause extensions beyond the 60-month limit

What it costs the family: Nothing to apply.

The eligibility facts, as published

Income
The July 1, 2025 schedule remains in force during the FY2026–27 and FY2027–28 COLA suspension. One adult plus two children: $421 need standard and $620 maximum grant; one child only: $117/$173. Initial earned-income deduction is $90; the 67% disregard belongs to the later benefit stage.
Assets
No asset test
Household
A child living with a parent or a specified caretaker; a relative raising the child can ask for a child-only grant

The trap: A county page says applicants must "meet resource limits". The statute says the opposite, and the statute controls. If a county worker raises savings, ask them to check the no-asset-test rule.

Where I read this

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