Financial Help for Senior Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Montana

Raising a grandchild on a retirement income was never part of the plan. Social Security or a modest pension was supposed to cover you — not you and a growing child who needs food, healthcare, school supplies, and winter clothes. Montana has programs designed specifically for older caregivers in this situation, plus the general kinship benefits that work particularly well for seniors because they exclude your income entirely.

Title III-E: The National Family Caregiver Support Program

This is the program built for you. Funded under Title III-E of the Older Americans Act, it serves grandparents and relative caregivers age 55 and older who are raising a child under 18. Montana's local Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) administer the program, which provides:

• Respite care: someone watches the grandchild so you can attend medical appointments, run errands, or simply rest. This is not babysitting — it is a federally funded support service.
• Counseling and support groups: individual counseling and facilitated group sessions with other grandparent caregivers.
• Supplemental assistance: emergency grants for specialized needs that standard benefit programs do not cover.
• Information and referrals: connections to legal aid, benefit navigation, health services, and community resources.

Contact your local AAA through the statewide number: 1-800-551-3191. Explain that you are a grandparent raising a grandchild and ask about Title III-E services in your area.

Child-Only TANF: Your Income Does Not Count

The most important benefit for senior grandparents is the child-only TANF grant, and the reason is simple: your Social Security, your pension, your savings, and your home equity are completely excluded from the eligibility test. Only the child's income matters.

A grandparent collecting $2,500 per month in Social Security with $50,000 in retirement savings qualifies for the full $425 monthly grant for one grandchild, as long as the child has no significant income of their own. There are no work requirements, no 60-month time limit, and no mandatory job search. The child can receive benefits until age 18.

Apply at apply.mt.gov, call 1-888-706-1535, or visit your local Office of Public Assistance.

Healthy Montana Kids (Medicaid) for the Child

The child qualifies for Medicaid or Healthy Montana Kids (HMK) based on the child's own income, not yours. Since most grandchildren placed with relatives have little or no income, they typically qualify for zero-cost comprehensive health coverage — medical, dental, vision, mental health, and prescriptions.

This removes one of the biggest financial anxieties: you do not need to add the grandchild to your Medicare supplement plan or pay for private insurance. The child has their own coverage.

SNAP: The One Program That Counts Your Income

Unlike TANF and Medicaid, SNAP evaluates the entire household that buys and prepares food together. Your Social Security income is counted. However, SNAP provides deductions that help seniors: if you are 60 or older, out-of-pocket medical expenses exceeding $35 per month reduce your countable income. Shelter costs exceeding 50% of net income also reduce it. These deductions can significantly increase the benefit amount.

If your only income is Social Security and the child's only income is the TANF grant, many senior households qualify for a meaningful SNAP benefit.

Medicare and the Child's Coverage

Your Medicare is yours — adding a grandchild does not affect it. The child's Medicaid is separate and does not interact with your Medicare eligibility or premiums. You can both have coverage without one affecting the other.

If you are paying out of pocket for prescription drugs under Medicare Part D, remember that the child's prescriptions are covered separately through Medicaid at zero cost.

Where to Start

If you are 55 or older, call the Area Agency on Aging (1-800-551-3191) and the Montana Kinship Navigator Program (1-888-445-3395) on the same day. The AAA handles aging-specific services, and MTKNP handles benefit navigation. Between the two, you will have a clear picture of every program available and the steps to apply.

The Montana Kinship Financial Help Guide covers every benefit from TANF to Title III-E with application checklists, so you can work through the process systematically instead of making separate phone calls to a dozen agencies.

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