North Dakota Tribal Kinship Care Benefits: Standing Rock, Turtle Mountain, and Spirit Lake

Five Tribal Nations, Two Benefit Systems

North Dakota has five federally recognized tribes and one Indian community located at least partly within the state. The five tribes are the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (Three Affiliated Tribes), the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Spirit Lake Nation, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, and the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Nation. The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) gives tribes jurisdiction and participation rights in child-custody proceedings involving an Indian child. A tribe has exclusive jurisdiction when the child resides or is domiciled on its reservation, or is a ward of its court, subject to federal-law exceptions.

That means a kinship caregiver on tribal land may work with two separate systems: tribal child welfare and the state programs administered by ND HHS. Understanding where each one applies prevents missed benefits and duplicated paperwork.

Tribal Court Guardianship and State Recognition

Federal law requires states and tribes to give full faith and credit to tribal judicial proceedings applicable to Indian child-custody proceedings. This rule does not itself set document requirements for each benefit program. For TANF, North Dakota HHS lists tribal enrollment records and court-order records as possible proof of relationship; check with each program about the documents it requires.

Tribal child welfare agencies manage independent case management and social service systems while coordinating with Human Service Zones for state-administered programs. Sioux County is served by the Three Rivers Human Service Zone; ask the Zone which documents each state program requires.

Kinship-ND Works Across Jurisdictions

Kinship-ND — the state's navigation and financial support program — serves caregivers regardless of whether their legal arrangement comes from state court, tribal court, or no court at all. A caregiver on Turtle Mountain with an informal arrangement qualifies for the same Kinship-ND supports as a caregiver in Bismarck with a district court order.

Through Kinship-ND, tribal kinship caregivers can access:

• Up to $800 in expense reimbursement for immediate child needs (clothing, bedding, car seats, childcare). Receipts from purchases up to two months before applying count.
• Up to $2,500 in guardianship legal fee assistance if pursuing formal guardianship. The caregiver must be enrolled in Kinship-ND services before applying for this fund.
• Navigation support connecting you to TANF, SNAP, Medicaid, and other programs.

Contact Kinship-ND at (701) 328-1453 or [email protected] to start with Form SFN 408.

State Benefits Available to Tribal Kinship Caregivers

Tribal enrollment does not disqualify a child from state-administered benefits. A kinship child living on reservation land can receive:

• Child-only TANF: When a non-legally responsible relative is excluded from the TANF benefit, the child's income and assets are considered on their own. TANF tests countable income against the Basic Standard of Need for a zero-caretaker unit; the current chart lists $366 per month for one child, before any applicable allowances or special items. Other household sizes have different amounts. Apply through the Human Service Zone or the ND HHS Self-Service Portal.
• Medicaid or Healthy Steps (CHIP): Informal caregivers can apply using Form SFN 1909 without holding legal guardianship. The caregiver's income is excluded under non-filer MAGI rules.
• SNAP: Unlike TANF, SNAP counts the entire household that purchases and prepares food together. The caregiver's income is included, but standard deductions apply.

Coordination between tribal family services and state TANF or Medicaid processing sometimes introduces administrative delays. Keep copies of all tribal court documents and application receipts in a single binder.

The ICWA Factor

When an unmarried child under 18 is a tribal member, or is eligible for membership and is the biological child of a tribal member, the Indian Child Welfare Act applies to covered child-custody proceedings. For foster-care or preadoptive placements, absent good cause, the preference order is a member of the child's extended family; a foster home licensed, approved, or specified by the child's tribe; an Indian foster home licensed or approved by a non-Indian licensing authority; and an institution for children approved by a tribe or operated by an Indian organization. For adoptive placements, absent good cause, the order is extended family, other members of the child's tribe, then other Indian families; a tribe may set a different order.

If a child enters your care through a formal tribal child welfare placement, you may qualify for the TANF Kinship Care program (under ND HHS policy 400-19-140) in addition to Kinship-ND's $800 reimbursement. These are separate programs and can be received alongside each other, though you cannot receive both foster care maintenance payments and Kinship-ND allowances for the same child.

Getting Started

The process is the same whether you live on Spirit Lake, at Fort Berthold, on Standing Rock, at Turtle Mountain, or in the North Dakota portion of the Lake Traverse Reservation: contact Kinship-ND first to establish your navigation file, then apply for state benefits through the Self-Service Portal, Customer Support Center, or local Human Service Zone. Keep tribal court and enrollment documents handy, and confirm proof requirements with each agency.

For a complete walkthrough of every program, application form, and document checklist, the North Dakota Kinship Financial Help Guide organizes all the steps in one place — including a receipt tracker for Kinship-ND's $800 reimbursement and a directory of every Human Service Zone office.

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