Kinship Care Payments in NC: Programs, Eligibility, and How to Apply

Kinship care payments in North Carolina range from roughly $181 to $810 per month, and the amount you receive depends almost entirely on the child’s legal status and whether you are licensed as a foster parent. A grandmother informally raising her grandson qualifies for a different program than a licensed aunt caring for a niece in county custody. Four separate payment tracks exist, and picking the right one matters more than any other decision you will make in this process.

The Four Payment Programs

North Carolina runs four kinship payment programs. Each answers a different situation, and in some cases you can qualify for more than one. Your relationship to the child, whether the county Department of Social Services has custody, and whether you hold a foster care license determine which doors are open.

Work First Child-Only Grants

Work First is North Carolina’s version of the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. When a relative or legal guardian is raising a child outside the foster care system, they can apply for a child-only grant. Your income and assets as the caregiver do not count. Only the child’s own income and resources are considered, and most children have little or none.¹

The monthly allotment is flat regardless of the child’s age:

1 child: $181
2 children: $236
3 children: $272
4 children: $297
5 children: $324

These amounts reflect 50% of the state’s standard of need under statute.² The rate has not changed in years and will not cover the actual cost of raising a child, but Work First is the most accessible option when DSS is not involved. To qualify, you must fit the statute’s list of family: grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, great-grandparents, great-aunts, great-uncles, nephews, nieces, first cousins, and step-relatives. A court order granting custody or guardianship also qualifies you. The child must be under 18, or under 19 if still in high school and expected to graduate before turning 19.

Unlicensed Kinship Care Stipend

This program covers a different situation: a child already in DSS custody who has been placed with a relative rather than in a traditional foster home. You can receive a monthly stipend without completing the full licensing process.³ Kinship here means a person related by blood, marriage, or adoption who is providing foster care.

Rates are set at half the standard foster care board rate and vary by the child’s age:

Birth through 5: up to $351 per month
Ages 6 through 12: up to $371 per month
Ages 13 through 17: up to $405 per month

The county pays the full amount and splits the cost with the state. You will sign a DSS-5802 Unlicensed Kinship Payment Acknowledgement form to start payments.⁴

Licensed Kinship Foster Care Payments

Licensing is never required for a kinship placement, but it roughly doubles the monthly payment. A licensed kinship foster parent receives the same standard board rate as any other licensed foster family.³ Current rates:

Birth through 5: $702 per month
Ages 6 through 12: $742 per month
Ages 13 and older: $810 per month

These rates are set by statute and reimburse the child’s room, board, and supervision. You must have enough household income to support yourself without relying on the foster care payment.⁵

KinGAP

The Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program is for cases where a child in foster care will not be reunified with parents or adopted, and a licensed kinship caregiver is willing to become the child’s legal guardian. It provides ongoing financial assistance and Medicaid coverage once guardianship is established.³

Eligibility is narrower than the other programs. The child must be at least 14 (or a sibling of a qualifying youth placed in the same arrangement), must have lived in the licensed caregiver’s home for at least six months, and must have been consulted about the guardianship. The court must have determined that reunification and adoption are not appropriate. Before the guardianship order is entered, you and the county DSS must sign a guardianship assistance agreement setting the terms of support.

What the Gap Looks Like in Practice

The differences between programs are large enough to change your household budget. A caregiver raising one 10-year-old receives:

$181 per month through Work First child-only
$371 per month through the unlicensed kinship stipend if the child is in DSS custody
$742 per month as a licensed foster parent⁶

If the child is in DSS custody, the unlicensed stipend or licensed board rate will almost always give you more support than Work First. If DSS is not in the picture, Work First child-only is usually the only option unless you pursue a court-ordered custody or guardianship arrangement.

Who Counts as Kinship

The definition shifts slightly between programs. For Work First child-only, the statute lists specific qualifying relatives: grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great-uncles, nephews, nieces, first cousins, and their step-equivalents.² If you do not fit one of those categories, a court order granting you custody or guardianship also qualifies you.⁷

For the unlicensed kinship stipend and licensed foster care, the child must be in the custody of a county DSS and placed in your home by that agency. Kinship for these programs covers people related by blood, marriage, or adoption. Non-relatives with a significant pre-existing bond to the child may also qualify depending on county DSS assessment. In every case, the child must be under 18 and living with you in North Carolina.

How to Apply

Applications go through your local county Department of Social Services, not a statewide office. North Carolina has 100 counties, each with its own DSS, and you apply in the county where the child lives.³

For Work First child-only, gather these documents before applying:

Photo ID or passport for yourself
Child’s birth certificate and Social Security number
Proof of the kinship relationship (birth certificates showing the family line, or a custody or guardianship order)
Proof of North Carolina residency (NC driver’s license, rental agreement, or utility bill)
Proof of citizenship or immigration status
Any documents on the child’s income or assets (most children have nothing to report)⁸

The state’s processing standard is 45 calendar days from when the application enters the system. If required verifications are not received or eligibility factors are not met by day 45, the application is denied.⁹ Have your documents ready before the clock starts.

For the unlicensed kinship stipend, the process runs differently because the child is already in DSS custody. The caseworker on the child’s case typically initiates the paperwork, including the DSS-5802 acknowledgement form. If a child has been placed with you by DSS and no one has raised the stipend, ask the assigned caseworker directly.

Getting Licensed for Higher Payments

Licensing is optional but is the clearest path to the standard board rate and to KinGAP later on. Requirements are the same as for any foster parent.

You must complete TIPS-MAPP (Trauma Informed Partnering for Safety and Permanence – Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting), a minimum 30-hour training and assessment course.¹⁰ The rest of the licensing process includes:

Fingerprint-based State Bureau of Investigation and FBI background checks for every adult (18 and older) living in the home
A fire inspection arranged through the supervising agency
An environmental and health check by the supervising agency
Proof that your household income supports your own family without depending on the board payment¹¹

The income requirement trips people up. The board payment reimburses the child’s expenses, not your household budget. If you are financially dependent on receiving the payment, you will not pass licensing review. There is no specific published income threshold; the assessment looks at whether your existing income already covers your existing expenses.

Medicaid, SNAP, and Taxes

Children in DSS custody placed with kinship caregivers are generally covered by Medicaid. KinGAP includes Medicaid as part of the guardianship assistance package.³ Former foster youth continue to receive Medicaid up to age 26 under the Affordable Care Act. For children not in foster care, Medicaid eligibility depends on household income and the child’s age; North Carolina expanded Medicaid in 2023, so thresholds are more generous than they once were. Apply through county DSS at the same time you apply for Work First.

Adding a kinship child to your household also affects SNAP. Benefits are calculated on household size and income, and a household includes everyone who lives together and shares meals, so a larger household size generally means a higher allotment. If everyone in the household already receives TANF (Work First) or SSI, the household may be categorically eligible and skip the income test.

On taxes, federal law excludes qualified foster care payments from gross income under 26 U.S.C. § 131. Payments made through a state foster care program for a child placed by a state agency are not taxable.¹² That covers both the licensed board payment and the unlicensed kinship stipend. Work First child-only grants are a separate matter. They are TANF benefits, not § 131 foster care payments, but TANF benefits are generally not taxable at the federal level because they are considered public assistance.

You may also be able to claim the child as a dependent, which opens the Child Tax Credit and potentially the Earned Income Tax Credit. To claim a child as a dependent, they generally must live with you more than half the year and meet the IRS relationship test. That test’s qualifying-child category includes grandchildren, nieces, nephews, siblings, and foster children placed by an authorized agency. A child who does not meet the qualifying child test may still count as a qualifying relative if they live with you all year and you provide more than half their support.¹³

If You Are Denied

A denial is not the end. North Carolina provides a fair hearing process for anyone who disagrees with a benefit decision. If your Work First application is denied or your payments are reduced, you can request a hearing. The request must be filed within a set number of days after the denial notice is mailed. For Medicaid managed-care decisions, the deadline is 30 days after the mailing date of the review decision. The specific deadline for Work First and kinship payments may differ, so read the denial notice carefully; it will state your deadline and how to request the hearing.

At the hearing you can present evidence, bring witnesses, and explain why the decision was wrong. Many denials come from incomplete applications rather than actual ineligibility. If you were denied for a missing document, bring the document. Your county DSS is the best starting point for sorting out which combination of programs fits your situation, and if you are not getting clear answers, ask about the unlicensed kinship stipend and Work First child-only by name.

1
Lincoln County, North Carolina. Work First Family Services
2
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 108A – Article 2
3
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Kinship/Relative Care
4
N.C. Department of State Treasurer. Reimbursement for Unlicensed Kinship Care Providers
5
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 108A-49.1 – Foster Care and Adoption Assistance Payment Rates
6
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Work First Eligibility and Income Requirements
7
Davidson County, NC. Work First Family Assistance
8
Union County, NC. Work First
9
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Work First Cash Assistance Application Process and Procedures
10
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. How To Foster and or Adopt
11
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Foster Homes
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 131 – Certain Foster Care Payments
13
Internal Revenue Service. Dependents