How Much Does Wyoming Pay Grandparents Raising Grandchildren?

The Short Answer

It depends on your legal arrangement and which programs you qualify for. Most informal kinship caregivers — grandparents or relatives who stepped in without child welfare involvement — can access the POWER Caretaker Relative cash grant plus food and health benefits. The combined value can reach several hundred dollars a month in direct assistance, with healthcare coverage on top.

Here is what each program actually pays.

POWER Caretaker Relative Cash Grant

The POWER program provides a child-only cash grant to non-parent relatives raising a child. The key advantage: your income as the caregiver is completely excluded. Only the child's own income and resources are evaluated.

For one child with no countable income, the standard monthly benefit is $259. DFS issues POWER benefits to the caregiver on a Way2Go card. The child's resources must be $5,000 or less.

If the child receives any income of their own — such as Social Security survivor benefits — that amount reduces the grant dollar for dollar. A child receiving $100 per month in survivor benefits would receive a net POWER grant of $159.

SNAP Food Benefits

SNAP is household-tested, which means your income counts. But the program allows several deductions that can significantly increase the benefit amount:

• Standard deduction (adjusted by household size)
• Shelter costs exceeding 50% of net income
• Medical expenses over $35 per month if you are 60 or older
• Unreimbursed dependent care costs

The maximum SNAP benefit for a two-person household (you and the grandchild) is adjusted each federal fiscal year. After deductions, many kinship households qualify for a meaningful monthly amount — sometimes the full maximum, especially when the caregiver is on a fixed income with high housing costs.

Kid Care CHIP and Medicaid

These are not direct cash payments, but the value is enormous. Wyoming Medicaid and Kid Care CHIP cover doctor visits, hospital stays, prescription drugs, dental care, vision care, mental health services, and transportation to medical appointments — all at zero or very low cost.

For a child with any ongoing health needs, the value of this coverage easily exceeds the cash benefits. Children in kinship care often arrive needing dental work, vaccinations, or behavioral health support that would cost thousands out of pocket without insurance.

Guardianship Assistance Payments

If the child came to you through the formal DFS child welfare system — meaning DFS placed the child in your home through a court order or voluntary placement agreement — and you become a licensed relative foster parent, a different payment structure applies:

• Foster care maintenance payments are paid monthly at board rates determined by DFS
• After at least six consecutive months of licensed foster placement, if reunification and adoption are both ruled out, you can negotiate a Guardianship Assistance Agreement with DFS before the court finalizes the guardianship
• The guardianship subsidy payment is capped at the foster care maintenance rate the child was receiving
• The child also receives categorical Medicaid eligibility

This pathway does not apply to private guardianships arranged outside the child welfare system. If you went to court on your own to obtain guardianship without DFS involvement, the guardianship itself does not generate a state payment — you would use the standard public assistance programs (POWER, SNAP, Medicaid).

What You Can Stack

These programs are not mutually exclusive. An informal kinship caregiver can receive all of the following simultaneously:

• POWER Caretaker Relative cash grant ($259/month for one child)
• SNAP food benefits (amount varies by income and deductions)
• Kid Care CHIP or Medicaid for the child (full health coverage)
• WIC (if the child is under 5)
• LIEAP heating assistance (seasonal)
• ECARES childcare subsidy (if you are working or in training)

Added together, the combination of cash, food, health, and childcare assistance can represent well over $500 per month in total support — more during winter months when LIEAP is active.

What to Do Next

The first step is applying for POWER and SNAP together through your county DFS office. From there, apply for Medicaid or Kid Care CHIP through the Wyoming Eligibility System. Each program has its own income rules and application process.

The Wyoming Financial Help for Kinship Caregivers guide breaks down every program's eligibility criteria, shows you exactly how income is counted differently across programs, and includes worksheets to estimate your household's total monthly benefit.

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