Michigan Guardianship Assistance Program: Kinship Payments After Foster Care

What GAP Is — and What It Isn't

Michigan's Guardianship Assistance Program pays a monthly subsidy to relatives who take legal guardianship of a child exiting the foster care system. The payments match what the child received in foster care maintenance, and they continue until the child turns 18 — potentially extending to 21.

This program is not available to every grandparent with a guardianship order. GAP has strict eligibility conditions tied to the child welfare system, and missing any one of them can permanently disqualify the family from GAP payments. Understanding those conditions before you proceed with guardianship is the difference between a monthly payment of $670+ and receiving no GAP payment.

The Four Requirements

To qualify for Title IV-E GAP, every one of these conditions must be met in sequence:

1. Court-ordered removal. The child must have been formally removed from their home by a court order based on a finding of abuse or neglect. Voluntary placements and informal family arrangements don't count.

2. Licensed relative foster care. The prospective guardian must have served as a fully licensed relative foster parent with the child residing in their home for at least six consecutive months while under MDHHS court-ordered placement. Federal regulations allow states to establish separate licensing standards for relative foster homes, which can affect the licensing process.

3. Reunification and adoption ruled out. MDHHS must have formally determined that the child cannot safely return to the biological parents and that adoption is not a viable permanency option.

4. Signed agreement before the court order. The Guardianship Assistance Agreement between the relative and MDHHS must be fully negotiated and signed before the probate court issues the final guardianship order. Signing after the court appointment permanently forfeits GAP eligibility. There is no exception and no retroactive fix for this.

That fourth point trips families up more than any other. The natural instinct is to get the guardianship finalized quickly and deal with MDHHS paperwork afterward. But once the court order is signed without the GAP agreement in place, the opportunity is gone forever.

Payment Rates

GAP maintenance payments are pegged to the foster care rate the child received before guardianship:

Children with special medical, behavioral, or developmental needs receive additional Difficulty of Care (DOC) supplements:

• Level I: base + $8.00/day (+$240/month)
• Level II: base + $13.00/day (+$390/month)
• Level III: base + $18.00/day (+$540/month)

These payments are not affected by the guardian's personal income. A grandparent with a pension and Social Security still receives the full GAP rate.

Nonrecurring Expenses

Federal law requires MDHHS to reimburse relatives for the legal and court costs of establishing guardianship, up to $2,000 total. This covers filing fees, attorney fees, and other expenses directly related to the guardianship petition. The state cannot impose lower sub-caps on specific categories of expenses.

Keep receipts for everything. Submit the reimbursement request to the MDHHS Adoption and Guardianship Assistance Office (AGAO) after the guardianship is finalized.

Extension to Age 21

Standard GAP payments end when the youth turns 18. However, the Young Adult Guardianship Assistance Extension allows continued payments until age 21 if the young person meets at least one of these conditions:

• Completing high school or GED full-time
• Enrolled at least part-time in post-secondary education
• Participating in a vocational training program
• Working at least 80 hours per month
• Deemed medically incapacitated by a physician

Eligibility is maintained by filing form MDHHS-6006 annually. Youth receiving the extension also keep automatic Medicaid eligibility through the end of the extension period.

If You're Not Eligible for GAP

Most grandparents raising grandchildren obtained custody informally or through probate court without going through the foster care system first. That means GAP isn't available to them.

The primary alternative is the Child-Only FIP grant, which pays $283/month for one child and doesn't require any involvement with child welfare. See the child-only FIP grant explainer for how that works. The child can also receive food assistance, Medicaid, childcare subsidies, and emergency relief through separate programs.

If you're currently a licensed relative foster parent and considering guardianship, talk to your MDHHS caseworker about the GAP timeline before filing anything with the court. The Financial Help for Grandparents and Relatives Raising a Child in Michigan guide walks through the full sequence and every other benefit available to Michigan kinship families.

See more Michigan guides →