Arizona Kinship Support Services: Free Help for Relatives Raising Children

Arizona Kinship Support Services (AKSS)

Arizona's Children Association operates Arizona Kinship Support Services — the state's federally recognized Title IV-E Kinship Navigator Program. The statewide helpline is 1-800-944-7611. Services are free, and you don't need to be involved with DCS or the court system to call.

AKSS offers kinship navigation (a case manager helps you figure out which benefits and services the child qualifies for), legal information workshops, peer support groups, guardian paperwork assistance, and emergency concrete resources like clothing, school supplies, and household items. Service availability varies by location; statewide referrals and information are available.

The catch: AKSS navigators are in high demand. If you need a form completed by tomorrow morning for a school registration appointment, you may not get a same-day callback. The program is a strong long-term support, but it can't always solve immediate paperwork crises.

Legal Aid by Region

Three legal aid organizations cover different parts of Arizona, all providing free services to income-eligible families:

Community Legal Services (CLS) serves Maricopa, Yuma, La Paz, Yavapai, and Mohave Counties. CLS handles kinship guardianship filings, custody matters, and family law cases through their family law unit. Website: clsaz.org.

Southern Arizona Legal Aid (SALA) covers Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, and Gila Counties. SALA's family law division handles kinship care cases and guardianship petitions. Website: sazlegalaid.org.

DNA People's Legal Services serves the Navajo Nation, Hopi, and communities in Coconino, Navajo, and Apache Counties. DNA handles cases involving tribal court and state court kinship matters, including situations where the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) applies. Website: dnalegalservices.org.

Legal aid eligibility typically requires household income at or below 125%–200% of the Federal Poverty Level. These organizations prioritize contested custody, domestic violence, and dependency cases, so non-contested kinship paperwork (like a straightforward GNPPOA10F form) may not qualify for full representation.

Court Self-Help Centers

Every county Superior Court in Arizona operates a Self-Service Center where you can pick up forms, get instructions for filing, and ask procedural questions. The Maricopa County Law Library Resource Center (in Phoenix, Mesa, and other locations) and the Pima County Self-Service Center are the busiest. Staff cannot give legal advice, but they can explain which forms to file and how to fill them out.

Form GNPPOA10F (Power of Attorney Delegating Parental Powers) and the guardianship petition forms (PB10f, PBSE10f) are available free from these centers and from azcourts.gov.

Certified Legal Document Preparers

If you need help filling out court forms but don't qualify for legal aid and can't afford an attorney, Arizona licenses Certified Legal Document Preparers (CLDPs) through the Arizona Supreme Court under ACJA § 7-208. CLDPs charge between $150 and $500 to prepare guardianship packets or powers of attorney. They cannot give legal advice or recommend legal strategies — they prepare the documents you tell them to prepare.

What These Resources Don't Cover

None of these services will give you a POA without the parent's signature. None of them can create legal authority where the law requires a specific process. And none of them replace the organizational step of putting your documents together, tracking expiration dates, and knowing what to bring when you walk into a school or clinic.

Our Arizona School & Medical Consent Guide organizes the forms, deadlines, and institutional checklists into one system so you can use these free resources more effectively.

See more Arizona guides →