Hawaii Financial Help for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Cash, Food, Health Coverage, and More — What Hawaii Offers

Taking in a grandchild or a relative's child changes your household overnight. The groceries double, the doctor visits start, and nobody hands you a manual. Hawaii has real programs that put money toward the child's expenses — and most of them do not count your income at all.

Here is what is actually available and which agency runs each program.

Child-Only TANF Cash Assistance

Hawaii's Department of Human Services (DHS) Benefit, Employment & Support Services Division (BESSD) runs the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. When a grandparent or qualifying relative applies on behalf of a child, the grant is classified as "child-only." That distinction matters because BESSD disregards the caregiver's income entirely — your Social Security, pension, or wages are not counted.

A one-child assistance unit can receive up to $582 per month (at the current 62% Monthly Assistance Allowance). Two children can receive up to $784, and three children up to $985. Only the child's own income, such as survivor benefits or direct child support, reduces the grant.

Child-only cases are also exempt from the federal 60-month lifetime limit and from First-To-Work employment mandates. You do not have to job-search or attend work programs to keep the child's benefit.

SNAP Food Benefits

SNAP (formerly food stamps) works differently from TANF. Instead of looking only at the child, BESSD evaluates everyone in the household who purchases and prepares food together. Hawaii applies Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility, which raises the gross income limit to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level and eliminates the asset test entirely.

Because Hawaii's cost of living is significantly higher than the mainland, SNAP allotments are adjusted upward. A two-person household can receive up to $910 per month in FY2027, and a four-person household up to $1,655.

Med-QUEST Health Coverage

The Med-QUEST Division handles Medicaid through the QUEST Integration managed care system. The 2026 maximum income standards for children are 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) for ages 6–18, 144% for ages 1–5, and 196% for children under age one. Children may qualify for S-CHIP coverage up to 313% FPL. If the child is not claimed as a tax dependent, your income generally is not included just because you are the caregiver. Under Medicaid's non-filer rules, the child's spouse and children, and (for a child under 19) the child's parents and siblings who live with the child, may be included in the household.

Once approved, the child is assigned to a managed care plan (AlohaCare, HMSA, Kaiser, Ohana, or UnitedHealthcare Community Plan) that covers medical, dental, vision, and behavioral health services under the EPSDT standard.

Childcare Subsidies

Two programs help with childcare costs. Child Care Connection Hawaii (CCCH) provides monthly subsidies for children under 13 if the caregiver is working, in school, or in job training, with income up to 85% of State Median Income. Preschool Open Doors (POD) covers preschool tuition for children ages two through four and has no work or school activity requirement; eligibility also depends on the child's age and residence with the applicant, plus household income. For 2026–2027, applications opened May 29, 2026 and are accepted through May 31, 2027, or until funding capacity is reached.

Hawaii is also expanding universal public pre-K through the Executive Office on Early Learning, which offers tuition-free seats at designated schools with no income requirement.

Kinship Guardianship Assistance (KGAP)

If the child entered the formal child welfare system through the Social Services Division and you became a licensed kinship foster home, you may qualify for Title IV-E KGAP or State-Funded Permanency Assistance. Monthly rates match foster board rates: $649 for ages 0–5, $742 for ages 6–11, and $776 for ages 12 and older. Children under 21 receiving either type of assistance have no income limit under Hawaiʻi's Children Group; only Title IV-E recipients are deemed eligible without a separate application when the required certification and placement conditions are met.

The critical rule: the Permanency Assistance Agreement must be signed with DHS before the court issues the guardianship order. If you finalize guardianship independently first, the child may lose access to these payments permanently.

Where to Start

The sheer number of programs is what trips people up. You may qualify for TANF cash, SNAP, Med-QUEST, WIC, childcare subsidies, and school meal benefits simultaneously — they stack, and qualifying for one often helps qualify for another.

Our complete Hawaii kinship financial help guide walks through every program, the application forms for each, the documents to bring, and what to do if you are denied. It includes island-specific processing center directories and tracking worksheets so nothing falls through the cracks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my Social Security income disqualify my grandchild from cash assistance? No. In a child-only TANF grant, BESSD disregards the relative caregiver's income entirely. Only the child's own income is evaluated.

Do I need a court order to apply for benefits? No. Informal caregivers can apply for child-only TANF, SNAP, and Med-QUEST without a guardianship order or legal custody decree. BESSD accepts a relative acting as the child's physical caretaker.

Can I receive TANF cash and SNAP at the same time? Yes. These are separate programs with separate eligibility rules. A child-only TANF grant does not create a child-only SNAP unit — SNAP evaluates the whole household — but you can receive both simultaneously.

What if I live on a Neighbor Island? Every county has a DHS processing center. You can also apply online through pais-benefits.dhs.hawaii.gov or submit paper forms by mail or fax. The full guide includes a complete island directory with addresses, phone numbers, and drop-box locations.

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