Maryland Kinship Foster Care Payments: What Formal Placement Pays vs. Informal Care

If you've heard that relatives raising children in Maryland can receive foster care payments, that's true — but it applies to a very specific arrangement that most kinship caregivers don't qualify for. Understanding the distinction between formal kinship foster care and informal kinship care prevents months of frustration spent chasing a benefit that isn't available to you.

Formal Kinship Foster Care: State-Supervised Placement

Foster care board rates only apply when all of these conditions are met:

1. The child was formally removed from the parental home by the local Department of Social Services due to abuse, neglect, or dependency
2. The local DSS placed the child with you as a relative
3. You became fully licensed as a resource family home (foster parent) under Maryland COMAR standards
4. The placement is supervised by DSS with regular court reviews

When this formal arrangement exists, you receive monthly foster care board rates that vary by the child's age and needs. These rates are substantially higher than child-only TCA payments because they're intended to cover the full cost of care under state supervision.

The key phrase is "formally removed." If a child simply moved in with you because the parent is in jail, struggling with addiction, or can't provide care — and DSS didn't place the child — you're an informal kinship caregiver, not a foster parent. The payment structures are completely different.

Subsidized Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP)

Maryland's Title IV-E Guardianship Assistance Program takes formal kinship foster care one step further. After a child has been in your licensed foster home for at least 6 consecutive months, and the local DSS has documented that neither reunification with the parents nor adoption is appropriate, you can negotiate a Subsidized Guardianship Agreement.

GAP provides:

• Monthly payments negotiated based on the child's specific needs, capped at 100% of the regular foster care board rate for the child's age
• Automatic Medicaid coverage for the child
• A one-time grant of up to $2,000 per child for nonrecurring legal expenses (attorney fees, court costs, background checks)
• A successor guardian provision — if you die or become incapacitated, a named successor can continue receiving the subsidy without the child re-entering foster care
• Payments that continue until age 18, or 21 if the child meets educational or disability criteria

The critical timing rule: the Subsidized Guardianship Agreement must be fully signed before the court finalizes the guardianship order. If guardianship is granted first, Title IV-E GAP eligibility is permanently forfeited. This is not a technicality — it's an absolute statutory requirement.

What Informal Caregivers Actually Get

If you're raising a relative's child informally — which is the situation for roughly 19 out of every 20 children in kinship care in Maryland — your financial options are:

• Child-only TCA: Up to $339/month for one child (2025 rates), your income excluded
• SNAP: Household food benefits with deductions
• MCHP/Medicaid: Full health coverage for the child
• WIC: For children under 5
• Child Care Scholarship: With kinship priority
• Kinship Navigator flexible funds: Small, discretionary amounts from local DSS for emergency needs (clothing, bedding, school supplies)
• OHEP energy assistance: Utility bill relief

There is no general statewide monthly cash subsidy for informal kinship caregivers equivalent to foster board rates. This gap is the single biggest source of frustration for relative caregivers — you're doing the same work as a licensed foster parent, but the payment structure is fundamentally different because the state didn't initiate the placement.

Can You Convert to Formal Foster Care?

Foster board rates require a formal child welfare placement: DSS removes the child from the parental home, places the child in state out-of-home care with a relative, and the relative becomes licensed as a resource family home. That process involves DSS oversight and court reviews; an informal family arrangement cannot be converted to foster care payments simply by applying for a stipend.

For most informal kinship caregivers, the practical path is maximizing the combination of child-only TCA, SNAP, MCHP, and supplemental programs. The Financial Help for Relatives Raising a Child in Maryland guide maps every available program with application checklists and tracking tools — built for the informal caregiver who needs to navigate the system without state placement.

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