Florida Relative Caregiver Program: Payments, Requirements, and How to Apply

What the Relative Caregiver Program Actually Pays

Florida's Relative Caregiver Program pays monthly stipends to blood relatives who take in children removed by DCF through dependency proceedings under Chapter 39. The rates are age-tiered and have remained unchanged through the 2026–2027 fiscal year:

• Ages 0–5: $242 per month
• Ages 6–12: $249 per month
• Ages 13–17: $298 per month

These rates apply per child. A grandmother caring for two dependent grandchildren — one age 4 and one age 14 — receives $242 plus $298, or $540 per month. All children on RCP automatically qualify for full Florida Medicaid with zero premiums.

Relatives who complete a Level 1 Child-Specific Foster Home License receive the higher foster care board rate of $333 per month regardless of the child's age. That license also opens the path to the Guardianship Assistance Program, which locks in at least $333 per month through age 18 — or age 21 under Extended GAP.

Who Qualifies for RCP

Three conditions must all be true:

1. The child is adjudicated dependent under Chapter 39 and placed in your home by court order. Private custody arrangements under Chapter 751 do not qualify.
2. You are related within the fifth degree by blood or marriage — grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, nieces, nephews, first cousins, great-aunts, or great-uncles.
3. Your home passes a DCF or CBC home study, including state and federal criminal background checks for everyone in the household age 12 and older.

Non-relatives and fictive kin (close family friends) placed through Chapter 39 receive a separate payment called Nonrelative Caregiver Financial Assistance instead of RCP.

RCP vs. Child-Only TCA — the Difference That Trips People Up

If you are caring for a child informally — no DCF involvement, no dependency court order — you are not eligible for RCP. Your pathway is Child-Only Temporary Cash Assistance, which also excludes your personal income and uses the same age-tiered payment amounts listed above.

The most common confusion: a relative obtains a Chapter 751 temporary custody order from Family Court and assumes that paperwork unlocks RCP. It does not. Chapter 751 grants legal authority for school enrollment and medical consent, but RCP requires a Chapter 39 dependency adjudication — a finding by the court that the child was abused, neglected, or abandoned.

When a child on Child-Only TCA later enters the dependency system, the Community-Based Care agency coordinates a conversion from TCA to RCP. Florida law prohibits receiving both simultaneously for the same child.

How to Apply

You do not apply for RCP yourself through MyACCESS. The process starts when DCF or a Community-Based Care lead agency places a dependent child in your home:

1. The CBC case manager initiates the home study. This includes background screenings and a home safety assessment.
2. The dependency court issues a formal placement order under Chapter 39.
3. The CBC case manager submits a payment conversion request to DCF's Office of Economic Self-Sufficiency.
4. Confirm the payment date with your CBC case manager after the payment conversion request is submitted.

If your case manager has not mentioned RCP after placement, ask directly. Some CBC agencies process this automatically; others require a prompt.

Making the Jump to Licensed Foster Care Rates

Standard RCP rates top out at $298 for teenagers. But the Level 1 Child-Specific Foster Home License bumps every age tier to $333 per month — a meaningful increase for caregivers with young children.

Florida Statute § 409.175 allows relative caregivers to request waivers of non-safety licensing standards. Your CBC caseworker walks you through the process. Once licensed, you also become eligible for the Guardianship Assistance Program, which continues payments and Medicaid coverage after the dependency case closes.

What to Do If Payments Stop or Get Reduced

For an RCP payment issue, contact your CBC case manager and ask which review process applies. For a TCA, SNAP, or Medicaid notice, the DCF Fair Hearing deadline is 90 days; Aid Paid Pending is available when requested within 10 days.

For a complete breakdown of every cash, food, healthcare, and childcare benefit available to Florida kinship families — including the ones that do not require a dependency court order — the Florida Kinship Financial Help guide walks through each program step by step.

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