Informal Kinship Care Benefits in Pennsylvania: Financial Help Without Legal Custody

Most grandparents and relatives raising a child in Pennsylvania don't have a court order. The child moved in because a parent couldn't cope — addiction, incarceration, a health crisis, or just walking away — and the family handled it privately. No social worker placed the child. No judge signed a custody order. It's just you, the child, and a pile of expenses.

The good news: you don't need legal custody to access most of Pennsylvania's financial programs for the child. Here's what's available in an informal arrangement.

Programs That Don't Require Legal Custody

Child-Only TANF — Apply as a non-needy caretaker relative at your County Assistance Office or through COMPASS. Your income is excluded; only the child's income matters. Monthly grant: $174–$215 for one child depending on your county. No time limit, no work requirement. You must be a "specified relative" (grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, first cousin, first cousin once removed, or their spouses). Full details

Medical Assistance / CHIP — Under MAGI non-filer rules, a relative caregiver's income is generally excluded. A parent or minor sibling in the home can change household size, and if you claim the child as a tax dependent, tax-filer rules can count your income. Most children in kinship care qualify for full Medical Assistance — doctor visits, dental, vision, behavioral health, prescriptions, and medical transportation. Full details

SNAP — Food benefits for the household. Unlike TANF, your income does count for SNAP. Pennsylvania's Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility sets the gross income limit at 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. Full details

Caregiver Support Program — If you're 55 or older, your local Area Agency on Aging can reimburse childcare costs, respite care, educational supplies, and home modifications. Up to $600/month for ongoing costs and $5,000 lifetime for home changes. Informal caregiving qualifies — no custody required. Full details

Child Care Works — Subsidized childcare through your regional Early Learning Resource Center. Household income counts. Work or training activity required (20 hours/week). Full details

WIC — If the child is under 5, Women, Infants, and Children provides supplemental food and nutrition support. You can apply as the caregiver regardless of legal status.

Free School Meals — Children receiving SNAP or TANF are directly certified for free school lunch. All PA public school students in participating schools also get free breakfast.

What You Can't Access Without Formal Placement

Two programs are off-limits without child welfare system involvement:

Foster care maintenance payments — Only available when the County Children and Youth Agency (CCYA) formally places a child in your home through the child welfare system.

SPLC (Subsidized Permanent Legal Custodianship) — Only available to caregivers whose child entered through CCYA foster care, after reunification and adoption are ruled out. And the subsidy agreement must be signed before any court custody order is entered.

The financial gap between informal care and foster care is real — foster care maintenance payments are significantly higher than TANF child-only grants. But moving a child into the formal welfare system is not something you can do voluntarily. The CCYA initiates placements through child abuse/neglect investigations.

The Caregiver Authorization Affidavit

If you need to enroll the child in school or authorize medical treatment, a Caregiver Authorization Affidavit (under 23 Pa.C.S. Chapter 56, Subchapter B, as amended by Acts 169 and 21 of 2018) gives you the signing authority to do both — without going to court.

The affidavit does not change your financial eligibility for anything. You're still eligible for the same TANF, SNAP, Medical Assistance, CSP, and CCW benefits as any other informal kinship caregiver. It simply resolves the practical problem of schools and doctors wanting to see legal authority on paper.

What If Someone Tells You That You Need Custody

Caseworkers, school administrators, and even family members sometimes insist that you need legal custody before you can access benefits. For most programs, this is incorrect:

• TANF child-only: No custody required — specified relative status is sufficient
• Medical Assistance: Any adult exercising care and control over the child can sign the application
• SNAP: Based on household composition, not legal custody
• CSP: Informal caregiving qualifies explicitly

If a caseworker at the CAO tells you that you must have custody before the child can get TANF, ask about the non-needy caretaker relative child-only category under 55 Pa. Code § 141.41. If denied, you have the right to appeal within 30 days.

The Pennsylvania Kinship Financial Help Guide covers every program available in an informal arrangement, with the application checklist and documents you'll need.

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