Financial Help for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Washington State

Raising a grandchild or relative's child changes your household budget overnight. A child who arrives with nothing needs clothes, food, a bed, school supplies, and medical care — expenses that land on a caregiver who didn't plan for them. Washington has programs specifically designed for this situation, and most of them don't count the caregiver's income at all.

The Programs at a Glance

Six primary financial programs serve kinship caregivers in Washington. Each is administered by a different agency, with different eligibility rules and different application routes.

TANF Child-Only Cash (DSHS): Monthly cash grants of $450 for one child, $570 for two, up to $1,026 for six or more. Applied for through Washington Connection. Your income is excluded — only the child's income matters. No time limit, no work requirement for the caregiver.

Basic Food / SNAP (DSHS): Monthly food assistance loaded onto a Quest EBT card. Applied for through the same Washington Connection application as TANF. Unlike child-only cash, Basic Food counts the whole household's income — so the rules are stricter. But deductions for shelter costs, medical expenses (if you're 60+ or disabled), and dependent care can bring countable income below the threshold.

Apple Health for Kids (Health Care Authority): Free or low-cost health coverage for children under 19. Children in households up to 215% of the federal poverty level get fully free coverage. Higher-income households pay premiums of $20-$30/month per child. Applied for through Washington Healthplanfinder (wahealthplanfinder.org). If you don't claim the child as a tax dependent, the child is evaluated as a 1-person household using only their own income.

Working Connections Child Care (DCYF): Childcare subsidies covering licensed daycare, family childcare, and before/after school care. Requires the caregiver to be in an approved activity (with some age- or disability-based exemptions). Copays are on a sliding scale. Families exiting the child welfare system may get up to 12 months of zero-copay childcare.

WIC (Department of Health): Nutrition support for children under 5 — food vouchers for formula, milk, eggs, fruits, and vegetables. Grandparents and relatives can apply directly at local WIC clinics. No court order required. A child receiving TANF or Apple Health is adjunctively income-eligible, but still needs to apply through WIC.

KCSP Emergency Funds (Area Agencies on Aging): One-time emergency grants for beds, clothing, utility shut-offs, rental arrears, and guardianship filing fees. Not an entitlement — subject to local budget availability. Access through your county's kinship navigator (call 211 to find them).

The Application Sequence That Matters

The order you apply in affects what you qualify for. Start with the programs that establish the child's eligibility for everything else:

1. Apple Health and Basic Food first — apply for Apple Health through Washington Healthplanfinder and Basic Food through Washington Connection. TANF or Apple Health makes the child adjunctively income-eligible for WIC, but WIC enrollment requires a separate application. Basic Food enrollment triggers direct certification for free school meals.

2. TANF child-only cash next — submit through Washington Connection. Complete the DSHS Relative Caregiver Declaration (Form 14-432). Evaluate whether you need to claim Good Cause to avoid cooperating with child support enforcement.

3. Emergency funds and legal planning — contact your local kinship navigator through 211 to access KCSP emergency funds while TANF and Basic Food are processing. The navigator can also connect you with free legal aid through the Northwest Justice Project if you're considering guardianship.

What Your Legal Arrangement Changes

Whether you have an informal arrangement, a private guardianship under RCW 11.130, or a DCYF child welfare placement changes which programs are available and how generous they are. Informal caregivers qualify for TANF child-only cash, Basic Food, Apple Health, and KCSP. Legal guardians qualify for those same programs plus potential additional support. Only caregivers who went through the formal DCYF dependency system and became licensed foster parents can access the Relative Guardianship Assistance Program (R-GAP), which pays a negotiated monthly rate that can exceed TANF.

The Complete Walkthrough

The Washington Financial Help for Kinship Caregivers guide covers every one of these programs in detail — the exact documents you need for each application, how to navigate Washington Connection as a non-needy relative, how to track renewal deadlines across programs, and what to do when an application is denied.

See more Washington guides →