Financial Help for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Nevada

You did not plan for this. A grandchild, a niece, a nephew — suddenly in your home, sleeping in a room you need to furnish, eating meals you need to stretch your budget to cover. Nevada has several financial assistance programs designed for exactly this situation, and most of them do not require you to have legal custody or guardianship.

Cash Assistance: Child-Only TANF

The biggest source of recurring cash for kinship caregivers in Nevada is Child-Only TANF, administered by the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services (DWSS). Any relative within the 5th degree of consanguinity — grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, adult siblings, adult nieces and nephews — can apply.

Payments range from $254 per month for one child up to $518 for five children under the standard rate schedule. The Kinship Care TANF stream pays $418 per month for a child aged 0–12 and $463 for a child aged 13 or older.

The income test looks at your total household income against 275% of the Federal Poverty Level. For a two-person household, that threshold is about $60,000 per year. Once you pass that test, your personal income, retirement savings, and assets are excluded from the child's benefit calculation entirely. Your pension does not reduce the child's grant.

No court order is required. No work requirements apply. No federal lifetime limit exists on the benefit.

Food Assistance: SNAP and WIC

SNAP (food stamps) evaluates the entire household's income, unlike the TANF child-only rules. If you live and eat with the child, your income and the child's are combined. Nevada's Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility raises the gross income limit to 200% FPL for qualifying households.

Nevada does not participate in SNAP's Elderly Simplified Application Project (ESAP). If every member of a SNAP household is 60 or older or disabled, Nevada uses a 12-month certification period and requires changes listed by DWSS to be reported within 10 days. Elderly or disabled members may deduct unreimbursed medical expenses over $35 per month and qualify for an uncapped shelter deduction.

Children under 5 in kinship care can also receive WIC benefits. If the child already gets TANF or Medicaid, they are categorically eligible for WIC without a separate income screening.

Health Coverage: Medicaid and Nevada Check Up

When you are not the child's legal parent and do not claim the child as a tax dependent, the child's health coverage is assessed under non-filer MAGI rules using the child's own countable income. Nevada Medicaid covers children up to 138% FPL with zero premiums and zero copays. Nevada Check Up (CHIP) extends coverage to 205% FPL with small quarterly premiums.

Under those non-filer rules, a caregiver's income does not affect the child's Medicaid or Nevada Check Up eligibility. No guardianship required.

Childcare Subsidies

Nevada's Child Care and Development Program (CCDP) provides subsidized childcare vouchers for working caregivers. Applications go through The Children's Cabinet in northern and rural Nevada or the Las Vegas Urban League in the south.

Initial eligibility requires household income at or below 41% of the State Median Income. For a two-person household, that is roughly $1,964 per month. TANF participants and foster/CPS placements are exempt from copayments entirely.

One important detail: if you establish formal court guardianship, your income is counted for CCDP eligibility. Under informal kinship care, the non-needy relative income exemption keeps your finances separate from the child's benefit calculations across most programs — but childcare subsidies are one area where legal guardianship changes the math.

Emergency and Support Programs

Nevada 211 connects caregivers to county-funded emergency help: utility assistance, rent arrears, beds, and clothing vouchers. Clark County Social Service and Washoe County Human Services offer their own discretionary emergency funds.

The National Family Caregiver Support Program (Title III-E) serves relative caregivers aged 55 and older with respite care, support groups, and supplemental vouchers — not monthly cash, but services that take pressure off.

Free Legal Help

Several organizations provide free assistance to Nevada kinship caregivers:

• Foster Kinship — statewide kinship helpline (702-546-9988 or 844-810-1667), benefit navigation, and guardianship legal assistance
• Nevada Legal Services — free civil legal help including TANF appeals and guardianship advice (702-386-0404 in Las Vegas, 775-284-3491 in Reno)
• Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada — self-help guardianship classes and representation in Clark County
• Northern Nevada Legal Aid — family law and benefit navigation in Washoe County

Our Nevada Kinship Financial Help Guide maps every program, agency, and application step into one reference — with document checklists, a benefits comparison chart, and the application hacks that keep your case on the right track.

See more Nevada guides →