Financial Assistance for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren – Grandfamilies. Are you looking for financial assistance or grants to help raise your grandchildren? More than ever, grandparent caregivers raise grandkids who need financial and emotional support.
This can be because their children cannot take care of them because of substance abuse, incarceration, mental illness, death, or other reasons. This resource guide will tell you where to find the help you need. Discussion topics include financial assistance grants and local support programs to help you raise your grandparents.
How Many Grandparents are Raising their Grandchildren – Grandfamilies?
According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2014, more than 13 million grandchildren lived with their grandparents. With the rise of the opioid epidemic and other social issues, many parents cannot properly care for their children because of addiction or incarceration.
Often, rather than have the kids taken by the state, many grandparents step in to care for their grandchildren. Because it can be stressful, consider grandparents raising grandchildren support groups in your area.
10 Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Financial Assistance
If you are a grandparent or relative caregiver caring for one or more grandchildren, know there are financial, medical, and legal resources and caregiver support available through government, charity, and community organizations.
As of 2017, this number has skyrocketed due to the opiate addiction epidemic in America. Over 3 million grandparents are now responsible for caring for and raising their grandchildren.
1. Do Grandfamilies Qualify for Monthly TANF) Payments?
Find out if, as a grandparent, you qualify for TANF or a cash benefit for the grandchildren you are raising. If you qualify, you may be eligible for other benefits as well. If your income exceeds the US Poverty Guidelines, you may be eligible for a “child-only grant,” covering the child/children only.
2. What is Temporary Family Assistance
Grandparents caring for a grandchild but not the child’s legal guardian or applied to foster parents through the Department of Children and Families (DCF) can receive TFA. The child’s kinship caregivers will receive approximately $330 per month. Your income is not considered for the child to receive help.
3. Can I Get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) If My Grandchild is Disabled?
SSI is a form of Social Security awarded to children with disabilities. SSI rules also cover children. You can apply for these benefits for your grandchildren at your city’s Social Security Administration office.
4. You May Qualify for Social Security Benefits (Survivor Benefits)
If your grandchild’s parents have died, your grandchild/children are eligible for survivor benefits to pay for the child’s living expenses. Please apply for them to receive Social Security Benefits.
5. You May Be Eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Grandparents may be eligible for SNAP food benefits to help feed the children they care for.
6. You May Qualify for Medicaid
If you care for your grandchild/grandchildren, you may be eligible for free medical and dental assistance from Medicaid. You can see a doctor and receive medications without cost.
7. Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP)
Your children may be eligible for free or discount childcare services. Childcare will enable grandparents to continue to work. If your gross family income is at or below the Federal Poverty Guidelines, you may be eligible for this help. Inquire at the local Department of Social Services.
8. Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
Contact your state’s Medicaid check or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to get health care for the children you care for. http://insurekidsnow.gov/ or call 1-877-KIDS-NOW.
9. How to Get A Guardianship Subsidy
Subsidized guardianship is a family resource awarding financial assistance to legal guardians of children cared for by relatives. If they have been in foster care and you gain guardianship of them, you may be able to receive subsidized guardianship. Contact your State Department of Social Services to see if you are eligible for grants, kinship care, or a non-parent grant.
10. What is The Family Assistance Program (FAP)
Grandparents or relatives caring for children can receive FAP or a Foster Care Stipend. This program provides cash and Medicaid. A family caregiver’s income is not considered part of the child/children’s income. The number of children in the household determines cash assistance amounts. Contact the Department of Human Health and Human Services to apply. You can also apply online. Apply online
Can I Get Help Raising my Grandchildren?
Temporary help from government and community programs can help keep families together. As grandparents step us to raise their grandchildren, this lessens the burden on an already stressed foster care system.
Assistance programs help children remain within their own families, which helps address separation anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues experienced by disrupting their home lives. Below are some benefits available to those grandparents and extended family members caring for kids. Below are some of the benefit programs available to help grandparents raise grandchildren.
What is Kinship Foster Care?
Kinship care is just what it sounds like. It is when a family member takes over the care of children. If a child has been placed into the foster care system, a family member can become a foster parent. The fostering ends when the parent can care for the child or until the child is 18.
However, it would be best if you qualified for licensing like any non-related adult looking to foster a child. As foster parents, grandparents raising grandchildren are entitled to financial help for the child’s living expenses.
Can my grandchildren receive Social Security benefits after a grandparent dies?
Your children can receive Social Security Benefits.
- If you become disabled.
- When you retire from your job
- And when you pass away.
- If the children have been legally adopted
- If the biological parents are dead
- Or the parents have become disabled.
Does My Child Lose their Parental Rights?
No. Your adult child still has parental rights, but the child and children are in your custody. Guardianship suspends parental rights until the parent can prove to the court they can successfully care for the child/children.
What Are My Rights as a Grandparent Guardian? Grandfamilies
As a guardian appointed by the court, you make decisions you would make for a legal child. That would be enrollment in school, children’s clubs, medical dedication, etc.
The Kinship Navigator Program
When a grandparent has to raise a grandchild, it adds additional stress on older people. It is not easy to become a parent to your grandchildren. You are not only a caregiver but a mentor to help the children avoid the pitfalls in life. If you need help finding support, please get in touch with the Kinship. Navigator Program in your state. They can help guide you to the services needed to support the children. Apply here.
Other Resources
- Grandfamilies Guide– Search Law, publications, and resources
- Grandfamilies.org – A guide
- Generations United – Find information on raising grandchildren in an intergenerational household, benefits for children with disabilities, and an explanation of benefits free online resources.
- National Foster Care & Adoption Directory – Child welfare gateway
- National Kinship Alliance for Children – Information on raising a child in extended families, and resources
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My husband and I are raising a 15 year old granddaughter we’ve had her since she was five , my husband was diagnosed with stage four COPD and I have crushed disk in my bk neither of us are able to work and both of us need to see our doctor but we can’t afford to we pay out of pocket two hundred a month for braces for this child as well as utilities and every day needs there’s no money left for doctor they say our huge income of $812 a month is to much for us to get medical assistance, can someone please help, the so called free clinics say our income is to high as well this is so not right we have both worked our whole life and now we need help.