Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Nevada: Where to Start

The First 72 Hours After a Child Arrives

Most grandparents don't plan to raise a grandchild. A phone call comes — an arrest, a relapse, a crisis you couldn't predict — and suddenly there's a child at your kitchen table who needs a bed tonight and a school desk on Monday.

A 2025 U.S. Government Accountability Office report estimated that about 2.4 million children in the United States were being raised by relatives or close family friends in 2023, most outside the foster care system.

Your first priorities are concrete: make sure the child has a safe place to sleep, food, and any medications they need. The paperwork, the legal questions, the benefits applications — those come next, and they're manageable once you know where to look.

Nevada's Kinship Navigator Program

Foster Kinship operates the statewide Kinship Navigator Program, connecting informal caregivers with legal guidance, support groups, and community resources. Their helpline assists grandparents and relatives who are navigating everything from school enrollment to benefit applications.

What Foster Kinship offers:

• One-on-one navigation — a case navigator helps you identify which forms, agencies, and timelines apply to your situation
• Legal information classes — free workshops covering the NRS 159A.205 short-term guardianship, school enrollment procedures, and medical consent
• Peer support groups — in-person and virtual meetings where caregivers share practical tips and emotional support
• Resource referrals — connections to food banks, clothing assistance, respite care, and free legal aid

Foster Kinship is not a government agency and does not have authority over your family arrangement. They're a nonprofit that helps you figure out next steps.

DCFS and the Difference Between Formal and Informal Care

The Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) handles formal child welfare cases — when a court removes a child from a parent and places them with a relative. In Clark County, this function sits with the Department of Family Services (CCDFS); in Washoe County, with the Human Services Agency (WCHSA).

If you took in a grandchild through a family agreement — no caseworker, no court order — you're in an informal kinship arrangement. That's the most common path, and it means:

• You won't receive foster care payments or agency supervision
• You can apply for TANF Child-Only cash assistance (the grant evaluates the child's income, not yours)
• You'll use an NRS 159A.205 short-term guardianship agreement for school and medical consent
• You're not required to become a licensed foster parent

If DCFS is already involved in the child's case, the agency retains legal custody and may offer foster payments, Kin-GAP (Kinship Guardianship Assistance), and ongoing case support. These are different programs with different eligibility rules.

Getting the Consent Paperwork in Place

The single most important document for an informal kinship caregiver in Nevada is the NRS 159A.205 short-term guardianship agreement. It gives you authority to enroll the child in school, consent to medical and dental care, and handle day-to-day decisions for up to six months.

The parent with legal custody and you must each sign before a notary. The child must provide written consent if they're 14 or older; the child's consent does not have to be notarized. If another parent's rights have not been terminated, their whereabouts are known, and they are willing and able to make daily-care decisions, that parent must also give written consent. The form is available free from the Nevada Judiciary Self-Help Center.

If no parent with legal custody can make the appointment, or required written consent from another parent is unavailable, you have other options — including court pathways. The parent refusal pathway walks through what happens when a parent is absent, uncooperative, or incapacitated.

Where to Find Help by Region

Clark County (Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas):

• Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada — free guardianship clinics and self-help workshops
• CCSD Shared Housing Office (702-799-8630) for school enrollment assistance
• Foster Kinship main office

Washoe County (Reno, Sparks):

• Northern Nevada Legal Aid — guardianship assistance for qualifying families
• WCSD Children in Transition program for McKinney-Vento enrollment
• Washoe County Human Services Agency kinship referrals

Rural counties (Elko, Nye, Lyon, Humboldt, Churchill):

• Nevada Legal Services — statewide, serves rural communities
• County school district offices for enrollment support
• Foster Kinship's virtual navigation services (no travel required)

Building Stability Over Time

The first weeks are the hardest. Once the immediate school and medical consent is handled, you can turn to longer-term questions: health insurance through Nevada Medicaid or Nevada Check Up (the child often qualifies on their own income), TANF Child-Only assistance, and whether a court guardianship makes sense for your situation.

Our Nevada School and Medical Consent Guide puts the forms, timelines, and district-specific procedures in one place — designed for caregivers who need answers tonight, not next week.

See more Nevada guides →