Nebraska Informal Kinship Care Financial Help

Most grandparents and relatives raising a child in Nebraska do it informally — no court order, no foster care involvement, just a private agreement with the parents or a crisis that put the child in your home. An estimated 14,000 Nebraska children live in these informal kinship arrangements, far outnumbering the roughly 850 in formal foster care placements with relatives.

The good news: you do not need a court order or a foster care license to apply for financial help. The programs available depend on your specific situation, and the income rules are more generous than many caregivers expect.

What You Can Get Without Court Orders

ADC child-only cash grant. This is the most important program for informal caregivers. You apply as a non-needy relative payee, and Nebraska completely disregards your personal income — your wages, retirement, Social Security, savings, and assets are excluded from the eligibility calculation. Only the child's own income matters (child support, survivor benefits, or trust distributions). As of July 1, 2026, a one-child grant pays up to $623 per month.

To qualify, you must be a "specified relative" under Nebraska law: grandparent, great-grandparent, aunt, uncle, adult sibling, adult niece, adult nephew, or first cousin (including step and half relations). Family friends and fictive kin do not qualify for ADC child-only grants.

Nebraska Medicaid / Kids Connect. Health coverage for the child follows the same income isolation principle. When you apply for the child only, your household income is not counted unless you claim the child as a tax dependent. Income thresholds for the child range from 133% to 162% of the federal poverty level by age, with CHIP extending to about 194% FPL.

SNAP food assistance. This one works differently. SNAP evaluates the entire household that purchases and prepares food together, so your income is counted. The gross income limit is 130% FPL, with asset limits of $4,500 for households containing someone elderly (60+) or disabled. Even though your income counts, deductions for actual child care costs and the standard utility allowance can reduce your countable income significantly.

WIC nutrition support. If the child is under 5, you can apply for WIC without a guardianship order. Any relative with physical custody of an eligible child can apply. A child already receiving Medicaid, SNAP, or ADC automatically meets WIC's financial requirements.

What You Cannot Get Without Formal Involvement

Subsidized Guardianship (GAP) payments require that the child was a court-adjudicated ward of Nebraska DHHS or a tribal child welfare agency, lived in a fully licensed relative foster home for at least six consecutive months, DHHS and the court determined that reunification and adoption are not appropriate, and a Subsidized Guardianship Agreement was signed before the court finalized guardianship. Informal caregivers are not eligible.

Foster care maintenance payments are only for licensed foster parents caring for state wards under juvenile court jurisdiction.

There is no general statewide informal kinship cash stipend in Nebraska beyond the ADC child-only grant.

Proving Your Informal Arrangement

Without a court order, DHHS needs other evidence that the child lives with you:

• School enrollment records showing your address
• Medical records from the child's doctor visits
• A landlord statement or utility bill with both names
• A co-residence affidavit (a signed statement)

A power of attorney under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2603 can also serve as documentation, though it is not required for ADC or Medicaid applications.

One Application Covers Multiple Programs

File through the iServe Nebraska Portal (iserve.nebraska.gov) or call 1-800-383-4278. The unified application lets you apply for ADC, Medicaid, SNAP, and Child Care Subsidy at the same time.

Our Nebraska Financial Help Guide walks through exactly which sections of the application to complete and which to skip when you are an informal caregiver, plus document checklists and renewal tracking worksheets for the mandatory six-month reviews.

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