AARP Hearing Center
Background
Grandparents and other relatives play an important caregiving role when parents are not able to care for their children. These kinship caregivers are disproportionately poor, disproportionately Black, and more likely to be older women (e.g., grandmothers). Children in their care generally have better academic, behavioral, and mental and physical health outcomes compared to those in the care of nonrelatives.
There are three types of kinship care:
- Informal kinship care: Arrangement made without any involvement of a child welfare agency. Parents retain legal custody.
- Voluntary kinship care: A child welfare agency is involved, but the state does not take legal custody.
- Formal kinship care: The child is placed in the legal custody of the state, and the child welfare agency places the child with kin.
Informal kinship care is the most common.
All kinship caregivers have access to an array of public-benefit programs. Grandparents caring for grandchildren may be eligible for child-only welfare benefits through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. This assistance may be available to them regardless of the grandparents’ income and work status. Grandparent households that qualify can receive additional Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits when a grandchild moves in. However, the grandchild can only receive SNAP benefits if the entire household is eligible. Grandparents caring for a grandchild can also apply for free or reduced-price meals for their grandchild. These meals are provided through the National School Lunch Program and the Summer Food Service Program. Income is a factor for eligibility. However, in many cases, formal kinship caregivers are eligible for more financial assistance than other caregivers.
Some rules and program structures inadvertently create hardship for kinship caregivers. For example, they can discourage the creation of formal guardianships by grandparents and other family caregivers. Others create significant hurdles for kinship caregivers to enroll children in school or obtain medical treatment for them (see also Intergenerational Cooperation).
ASSISTANCE FOR GRANDPARENTS AND OTHER RELATIVES RAISING CHILDREN: Policy
ASSISTANCE FOR GRANDPARENTS AND OTHER RELATIVES RAISING CHILDREN: Policy
Financial assistance
Public-benefit programs should ensure that all kinship caregivers receive sufficient support for economic security and well-being.
States, with help from the federal government, should increase available benefit levels. They should adopt subsidized guardianship programs. The disparity between benefits paid to kinship caregivers and foster parents should be narrowed or eliminated.
For households receiving multiple child-only grants from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the grant amounts should be equal for each child. The amount should not decline for each additional child after the first, as is now typically the case.
Improving access to assistance
States should make it as simple as possible for kinship caregivers to enroll children in their care in school or obtain medical treatment for them.
States should adopt programs that connect kinship caregivers with individuals who can help them access available resources.
Foster policy
Policies and regulations should prioritize placing children in foster care with kinship caregivers whenever possible and appropriate.