NC Work First Child-Only Grant for Grandparents: Eligibility, Amount, and How to Apply

How the Child-Only Grant Works

Work First Family Assistance is North Carolina's TANF program, and the child-only grant is the version designed for situations where a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or other relative is raising a child. The key difference from a regular Work First grant: your income doesn't count.

When you apply as a non-needy caretaker relative, DSS considers income and countable resources in the child's name — things like Social Security survivor benefits, child support passed through to the household, trust fund payments, or a bank account. Your pension, Social Security retirement, wages, savings, and property are excluded from the eligibility calculation.

The child's countable resources must not exceed $3,000.

That single rule changes everything for grandparents on fixed incomes who assume they make too much to qualify.

Payment Amounts

The grant is a fixed monthly amount based on how many eligible children are in the home:

These amounts haven't changed in decades, and they're modest. But $181 per month is $2,172 per year that goes directly toward the child's needs — and it often opens the door to Medicaid and other benefits simultaneously.

If the child has countable income (say, $100/month in child support), DSS subtracts that from the maximum. A single child receiving $100 in child support would get $81/month ($181 minus $100).

A child receiving SSI is excluded from the assistance unit entirely — their SSI doesn't count against the grant, but they also don't generate a grant amount.

Who Qualifies as a "Specified Relative"

North Carolina follows the federal TANF rule: the caregiver must be related to the child within the fifth degree of kinship by blood, marriage, or adoption. That covers grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great-uncles, first cousins, siblings, and several more. A non-relative who has legal custody or guardianship through a court order can also apply, but under general caretaker rules rather than specified-relative rules.

The child must be under 18, or age 18 and enrolled full-time in high school or elementary vocational training with an expected graduation before age 19.

No Work Requirements, No Time Limits

Because the grant is child-only, the caretaker relative is classified as "non-needy." That means you are exempt from Work First's mandatory work activities and job search requirements, and the grant is exempt from both the NC 24-month time limit and the federal 60-month TANF lifetime cap.

The grant continues as long as the child is eligible. You don't have to worry about benefits cutting off after two years.

One caution: if your own income is low enough that you want to be included in the grant alongside the child, you can apply as a household member. That raises the payment slightly, but it also subjects the entire household to work requirements, Mutual Responsibility Agreements, and time limits. For most grandparents, the child-only route is far simpler.

How to Apply

You can apply for Work First through ePASS (epass.nc.gov), in person at your county DSS, or by mailing, faxing, or dropping off Form DSS-8124. ePASS allows one application for Work First, food stamps, and Medicaid; paper forms are program-specific.

After submitting, DSS schedules the required eligibility interview; county DSS offices permit phone interviews for kinship caregivers upon request. Processing takes up to 45 calendar days from receipt of the signed application. When approved, the grant is issued monthly by EBT or direct deposit.

One required step: applying triggers an automatic referral to Child Support Services. DSS requires cooperation with establishing child support from the absent parent. If cooperating would put the child or you in danger (domestic violence, abuse), you can file a Good Cause Exception (Form DSS-2121) and DSS cannot delay the grant while the exception is reviewed.

Our North Carolina Kinship Financial Help Guide includes the full income-by-program breakdown, the document checklist for your DSS interview, and a worked example of how the grant calculation works with and without child income.

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