Kentucky Kinship Care Program: What's Still Available in 2026

If you searched for the Kentucky Kinship Care Program expecting a single, clean benefits page, you already know the frustration. The original program under 922 KAR 1:130 closed to new applicants on April 1, 2013, and state websites still reference it without always making that clear.

That does not mean the money disappeared. Kentucky now has several funding channels spread across different divisions of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS). The problem is that each channel has its own eligibility rules, its own application, and its own office — and nobody hands you a map.

What the Legacy Kinship Care Program Was

The original program paid $300 per month per child to relatives who took permanent legal custody of a child removed by the Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) due to abuse or neglect. It also offered one-time start-up cost grants ranging from $350 for one child to $2,100 for six or more children.

Caregivers who entered the program before April 1, 2013, keep their grandfathered payments at the $300-per-child rate. Everyone who came after that date is locked out.

What Replaced It

Three main funding streams now serve kinship caregivers in Kentucky. Which one you qualify for depends on how the child entered your home.

K-TAP child-only cash is the most broadly available option. If you are a blood, marriage, or adoptive relative raising a child whose parent is absent, incapacitated, deceased, or unemployed, you can apply for a monthly grant based solely on the child's income. Your own retirement, Social Security, or wages are not counted. Payments run up to $372 for one child and up to $964 for seven or more. There is no 60-month time limit on child-only cases.

Relative Placement Support is a one-time discretionary grant available when DCBS places a child with you during a child protection intervention. Unlike K-TAP, fictive kin (family friends with no blood or legal tie to the child) are eligible. The payment covers immediate safety items, bedding, and clothing.

KinGAP (Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program) provides ongoing monthly payments to certified relative or fictive-kin foster parents who take permanent legal guardianship. The child must have lived in the approved foster home for at least six consecutive months under cabinet custody first. Payments are negotiated up to the standard foster care board rate, and the child keeps Medicaid coverage.

DCBS Family Support: Where to Start

All three channels run through CHFS, but through different divisions:

• Division of Family Support handles K-TAP, SNAP, and Medicaid applications. Apply online at kynect.ky.gov or at any of Kentucky's 120 county DCBS offices.
• Division of Protection and Permanency manages placement support and KinGAP. You access these through your assigned DCBS caseworker during an active child welfare case.
• Division of Child Care administers CCAP childcare subsidies, a separate application.

If you are not sure which division you need, the Kentucky Kinship Resource Center (KKRC) at the University of Kentucky runs a support hotline at 877-565-5608 that can help you sort it out.

The Confusion Between "Kinship Care" and K-TAP

The biggest trap is the name itself. Grandparents searching for "Kentucky kinship care" land on pages describing the closed legacy program and assume nothing is available. Meanwhile, the K-TAP child-only grant — which is open, funded, and ignores caregiver income — goes by a name that sounds like welfare and scares people away.

K-TAP child-only is not welfare in the way most people imagine it. The caregiver is not the recipient. The child is. Your personal income, savings, home, and vehicles are completely excluded from the eligibility calculation. The $10,000 liquid asset limit applies only to assets belonging to the child.

What to Do Right Now

If you are a grandparent or relative raising a child in Kentucky and you have not applied for K-TAP child-only, start there. It is the fastest path to recurring monthly cash for the child, and you can apply today through kynect.ky.gov.

Our Financial Help for Grandparents and Relatives Raising a Child in Kentucky guide walks through every program, every application, and every document you need — organized by your care arrangement so you do not waste time on programs you cannot access.

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