Financial Help for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Grandparents raising grandchildren face unique challenges as they becomes parents a second time around, and must often navigate a dizzying array of legal, financial, and social challenges as they step in to care for their grandchildren.

In addition, grandparents must often stretch their budgets when they take on the day-to-day expenses of caring for a grandchild. The same is true for other kin caregivers, such as aunts or uncles. For these families, a little help can go a long way towards helping them raise their children in their care.

What many of these caregivers do not know is that there is help available through a program called the Non-Parent Caregiver Grant. The grant is provided through state and local governments and can provide up to $400 per month for one child and $125 for each additional child in a kincare family (the amount varies by region).

The unique feature of the grant is that only the child’s income and financial resources are counted in determining the eligibility for the grant. Which means, unless the child has their own source of income, and the vast majority do not, almost all kincare families should be receiving the grant. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

In fact, most kincare families are not receiving the grant. In New York State, according to public assistance data, only 8 percent of potentially eligible children are receiving the non-parent grant. Out of an estimated 410,000 children in the state who live with grandparents or other relatives, only about 32,000 are receiving the grant. That’s only one in twelve of eligible children.

Here are the important things you need to know about the grant.

Eligibility
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