Kentucky Relative Placement Support Benefit Explained

When DCBS places a child in your home during a child protection intervention, the Relative Placement Support Benefit under 922 KAR 1:400 helps you pay for the things you need immediately — a bed, clothing, a car seat, childproofing supplies. Unlike K-TAP, this benefit is available to fictive kin, not just blood relatives.

What It Is

The Relative Placement Support Benefit is a one-time discretionary grant. It is not a monthly check. The cabinet issues it to help relatives and fictive kin meet the immediate safety and living standards required for a child placement.

The benefit covers items like bedding, clothing, essential furniture, and household upgrades that DCBS requires for the child's placement to be approved. Payments go directly to approved vendors or are reimbursed against itemized receipts — DCBS does not hand you a lump sum.

Who Qualifies

You qualify if:

• DCBS has placed a child in your home as part of an active child protection case
• You are a relative (grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, or other family connection) or a fictive kin caregiver (a family friend with a strong emotional bond to the child but no blood or legal tie)

This is the key difference from K-TAP child-only cash. K-TAP requires a blood, marriage, or adoption relationship and excludes fictive kin. Placement Support is open to both.

What It Does Not Do

The benefit cannot be combined with legacy Kinship Care monthly payments or foster care board rates for the same child. It does not create ongoing monthly income. It is subject to legislative fund availability, meaning the cabinet must have funds allocated before it can issue the payment.

It also requires active DCBS involvement. If you are raising a child informally — without a child welfare case — you are not eligible for Placement Support. In that situation, K-TAP child-only and SNAP are your primary options.

How to Access It

You do not apply for Placement Support through kynect or a standard benefits application. Your DCBS caseworker in the Division of Protection and Permanency initiates the process when a child is placed with you. If you have been approved as a relative placement and nobody has mentioned this benefit, ask your caseworker directly about 922 KAR 1:400 and what expenses are eligible.

Keep receipts for everything you purchase for the child's care from day one. Even if the reimbursement process starts after placement, having documentation ready speeds up the approval.

The Financial Help for Grandparents and Relatives Raising a Child in Kentucky guide explains how Placement Support interacts with the other programs — K-TAP, CCAP childcare subsidies, and KinGAP — so you do not leave money on the table by assuming only one program applies to your situation.

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