Delaware Kinship Care vs Foster Care Payments: What Relatives Actually Receive

The Payment Gap Relatives Don't Expect

You agreed to take in your grandchild or niece because the alternative was a stranger's home. Then you discovered that the monthly check a licensed foster parent receives is far larger than anything available to you as an informal relative caregiver. That gap is real, and it traces back to one structural divide in Delaware: whether the child entered your home through the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF) or through a private family arrangement.

Understanding which track you are on determines which payments you can access, what documentation you need, and how large the monthly amount will be.

How Delaware Defines Each Arrangement

Delaware splits child welfare and public assistance across two separate agencies. DSCYF's Division of Family Services (DFS) handles formal child protective investigations, foster care licensing, and guardianship subsidies. The Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) and its Division of Social Services (DSS) handles cash assistance, food benefits, and childcare subsidies through programs like TANF and SNAP.

Formal kinship foster care means DFS holds legal custody of the child and places them with a relative approved as a foster care provider. The relative receives a non-taxable stipend based on the child's age and needs, as well as the foster parent's skills, training, and level of service. Delaware TANF and General Assistance rules exclude foster care payments from income calculations.

Informal kinship care means a relative took in the child through a voluntary family arrangement with no court order and no DFS involvement. DFS has no role, and foster care payments are not available. Instead, the caregiver accesses benefits through DHSS programs.

What Each Track Pays

The difference in monthly support is significant:

Foster care maintenance payments (formal DFS placement) are set by the state based on the child's age and any special needs. These rates are generally higher than TANF grants because they are designed to cover the full cost of room, board, clothing, and personal items for the child.

TANF child-only grants (informal or voluntary arrangements) provide approximately $241 per month for one child, $324 for two children, and $405 for three children under the current 2026-2027 Delaware payment schedule. The key advantage is that the caregiver's own income, pension, and Social Security are completely excluded from the eligibility calculation. Only the child's own income counts.

The 180-day Kinship Care Program may provide one-time transition help (clothing, furniture, and other supplies) within available funding when a related child moves into the home. The caregiver must apply within 180 days, have household income below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, ensure the child's parents do not live in the home, and have or actively pursue guardianship. This is not an ongoing monthly payment.

The Bridge to Guardianship Subsidies

Delaware operates a Permanent Guardianship Subsidy through DFS for eligible children in foster care. The payment may not exceed the foster care maintenance payment that would otherwise have applied. DFS policy requires a statutory ground for termination of parental rights, that adoption is not possible or appropriate, and that permanent guardianship is in the child's best interests. The proposed guardian must meet DFS criteria and complete required training.

The critical timing rule: DFS must approve the subsidy determination before the Family Court hearing awarding permanent guardianship, and the written agreement must be in place before that hearing.

This means informal caregivers who never entered the child welfare system cannot access guardianship subsidies through this program. Their ongoing monthly support comes through TANF child-only grants.

What Informal Caregivers Can Access

Even without DFS involvement, informal kinship caregivers can seek support through several DHSS programs:

• TANF child-only cash — monthly grants based solely on the child's income
• Medicaid or DHCP — health coverage for the child using child-only MAGI rules with no asset test
• SNAP — food benefits (note: SNAP evaluates total household income, unlike TANF)
• Purchase of Care — childcare subsidies if the caregiver works, trains, or qualifies through a DFS referral
• WIC — for Delaware-resident children under five who meet income guidelines and a nutritional-risk requirement

When DFS Gets Involved

Some relatives start informally and later become part of the child welfare system. This happens when DFS opens a case and asks a relative to care for the child under a Safety Agreement. A Safety Agreement does not automatically make you a foster parent or entitle you to foster payments, but it may connect you to the Kinship Navigator Program and priority services.

If you are asked to become a licensed kinship foster parent through DFS, that step changes the financial picture. Licensed kinship foster parents receive foster care maintenance payments and become eligible for the guardianship subsidy pathway described above.

Making the Decision

You do not have to choose between informal care and the formal child welfare system on your own. The Children's Choice Kinship Navigator Program (302-678-0404) can help you understand your options. CLASI provides free family representation to eligible low-income parents facing DFS intervention in the parent-child relationship. Call to ask whether your guardianship or custody issue fits its current services.

What matters most is knowing that informal kinship caregivers are not shut out of financial help. The monthly amounts differ from foster care, but TANF child-only grants, Medicaid, SNAP, and other programs are available regardless of whether DFS is involved.

For a complete breakdown of every Delaware benefit available to kinship caregivers — including application steps, required documents, and agency contacts — the Delaware Kinship Financial Help Guide walks through the entire process from first contact with DSS through annual renewals and appeals.

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