Kansas program
Cash for a relative raising the child
Cash assistance for a qualifying relative raising a child (Grandparents as Caregivers).
What it is
Cash assistance for a qualifying relative raising a child (Grandparents as Caregivers).
A relative raising a child can face different cash-assistance rules from a parent. This route looks at the child’s finances rather than the caregiver’s. The department decides whether the care arrangement qualifies.
Eligibility rules
- A qualifying non-parent relative cares for the child in Kansas. The TANF plan recognizes relatives within the fifth degree of kinship; DCF confirms the legal relationship and filing unit, including any adoption.
- The child’s income and resources are tested; your own are not.
What you get
- Monthly cash based on the child’s finances.
- No caregiver work requirement or adult TANF time limit on a qualifying child-only case.
What the help includes
- The department calculates the grant under the relative-caregiver route.
- DCF must confirm the payment for the eligible child or children and which child income and resources count. Your own income does not close a qualifying non-parent child-only route, but the legal relationship matters; tell the social worker about any adoption or other legal-parent status.
If you decide to apply
- Ask a Department for Children and Families service center about Grandparents as Caregivers by name.
- Have proof of the caring arrangement and the child’s income and resources ready.
Kansas Department for Children and Families · 1-888-369-4777 · Official page ↗
After you ask
- The hospital social worker can help explain who is caring for the child.
Good to know
The relative-caregiver route needs to be identified separately from an ordinary family cash application.
Other details
- Your answers here do not settle legal parenthood or adoption. Those details need a separate conversation.
Official sources
- KEESM 1111 and 1118: program descriptions and diversion
- DCF KEESM §§1111 and 1118, GPCG and diversion; July 2026 manual
- Kansas TANF state plan, October 1, 2023–September 30, 2026, pp. 2–3 and 15–16
- K.S.A. 39-709, financial responsibility and prohibition on broad-based categorical SNAP eligibility
- DCF KEESM §5000, resource limits and exclusions
“A grandparent is raising this child. Is there cash help that looks at the child’s income rather than ours, and if it is worth applying, could you help us?”
Why I’m asking: I want the department to use the right rules for the adult raising our child.
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
Ask for the relative caregiver route by name and bring proof of the caring arrangement.
Your social worker
The hospital social worker can confirm who is caring for the child.
The care team
Nothing.
- Who decides
- The Kansas Department for Children and Families.
- Ask the agency
- “I am a relative raising this child. Can we apply on the relative caregiver route, where only the child’s finances are tested, and what does it pay?”
How to apply
First step: Call 1-888-369-4777 and ask for the relative caregiver route by name.
- Ask the department for the relative caregiver route by name, so the child rather than the household is tested.
- Ask what it pays each month before planning around it.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Apply through the department and ask for the relative caregiver route by name.
What to gather
- Proof that you are raising the child
- The child’s own income or savings, if any
How long: Decided as a cash application; the standard is 45 days.
What a yes looks like
A notice with a monthly amount for the child.
What a no looks like, and the next move
Check they tested the child and not your household, and ask for the reason in writing.
Watch out
- Ask for this route by name, or you will be tested as an ordinary household.
- DCF confirms the grant, the child’s financial rules and the legal relationship, including any adoption, before you plan around a payment.
- Your own income and savings are not the test here; the child’s are.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
Child-only cash for a qualifying non-parent relative, with no caregiver work requirement or adult TANF time limit. DCF confirms the grant and the child’s financial rules.
Legal protection: No work-related requirements · No time limit
What it costs the family: Nothing.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Household
- A qualifying non-parent relative caring for the child. DCF confirms kinship, adoption or other legal-parent status and the filing unit.
- Income
- only the child’s finances are tested
- Residency
- Kansas
The trap: A qualifying non-parent caregiver’s own income and resources do not close the child-only route. Adoption or other legal-parent status can change the analysis. DCF confirms the program-specific grant and the child’s financial rules.
Where I read this
- KEESM 1111 and 1118: programme descriptions and diversion — Kansas Department for Children and Families, read September 10, 2026