CommonHelp Virginia — How to Apply for Benefits for a Grandchild

What CommonHelp Does

CommonHelp (commonhelp.virginia.gov) is Virginia's centralized online benefits portal. It handles applications for TANF cash assistance, SNAP food benefits, Medicaid and FAMIS health coverage, childcare subsidies, and energy assistance — all in one place. For kinship caregivers, this means you can apply for multiple programs in a single submission instead of visiting separate agencies.

You can also apply by calling the Enterprise Customer Service Center at 1-855-635-4370 or by submitting a paper application (Form 032-03-1100-39) at your local DSS office. But CommonHelp gives you a confirmation number, lets you upload documents electronically, and creates a record you can reference if anything goes wrong.

Setting Up the Application Correctly

This is where most kinship caregivers run into trouble. When CommonHelp asks about your household, the way you answer determines whether your case is treated as child-only (your income excluded) or as a standard family case (your income counted).

For a TANF child-only grant: list the child as the person requesting assistance. Do not add yourself to the assistance unit. You are the applicant filing on the child's behalf, but you are not requesting benefits for yourself. If you add your own needs to the TANF request, the system treats the entire household under standard family rules — your income gets counted, work requirements under VIEW kick in, and the 60-month lifetime limit applies to you.

For SNAP: household rules are different. SNAP counts everyone who purchases and prepares food together as one household regardless of legal relationships. You will likely be counted as part of the SNAP household with the child. This is normal and does not affect your TANF child-only status.

For FAMIS or Medicaid: the child's health coverage application is evaluated separately using MAGI (Modified Adjusted Gross Income) rules. If you do not claim the child as a tax dependent, only the child's personal income is considered.

Documents to Have Ready Before You Start

Gather these before you sit down at the portal — the application times out, and missing a document mid-process is the most common reason applications stall:

• Child's Social Security number (or proof you have applied for one)
• Child's birth certificate or acceptable substitute (hospital Newborn Summary, school records)
• Your government photo ID
• Proof the child lives at your address (school enrollment letter, medical record, utility bill)
• Proof of your relationship to the child (birth or marriage certificates connecting you through the parent)
• Any income the child receives directly (child support, Social Security survivor benefits)
• Your income documentation if applying for SNAP (pay stubs, Social Security statement, pension statement)

You can upload scanned copies or photos of documents directly through CommonHelp after submitting the application.

How Long Processing Takes

Virginia law requires the local DSS to process TANF applications within 30 calendar days of receipt. SNAP applications also have a 30-day processing window, but if the household qualifies for expedited processing (very low income and resources), the deadline shortens to 7 days.

After you submit through CommonHelp, your application routes to the local DSS office where you live. A caseworker may contact you to request additional verification — watch for Notice DSS-710 (Pending Verification Notice), which lists exactly what documents they still need and a deadline to provide them.

If you do not hear back within the statutory window, call your local DSS office directly. Ask for the status by your CommonHelp confirmation number. If you cannot reach anyone, escalate through the Enterprise Customer Service Center at 1-855-635-4370.

Common Mistakes That Delay or Deny Applications

Adding yourself to the TANF assistance unit when you meant to file child-only. If this happens, contact your local DSS and ask to amend the application to remove your needs from the TANF portion.

Missing the verification deadline. If the local office sends you a verification request and you do not respond by the deadline, it may deny the application. Read the notice and contact the office promptly to ask whether it can still accept your documents or whether you need to submit a new application.

Not saving your confirmation number. Without it, tracking your application through the system becomes significantly harder. Write it down or screenshot it immediately after submission.

For a walkthrough of every program available to kinship caregivers in Virginia — including programs that are not on CommonHelp, like WIC and the Relative Maintenance Support Payment — the Virginia kinship financial help guide covers each one with the documents needed and the agency to contact.

See more Virginia guides →