South Carolina Informal Kinship Care Benefits

You Do Not Need a Court Order to Get Help

The most common misconception among South Carolina grandparents and relatives raising a child: that you need a guardianship order or custody decree before you can apply for any benefits. You do not.

Informal kinship care — where a relative takes physical custody of a child without a court order or formal SCDSS placement — still opens the door to several significant benefit programs. Here is what is available and what the limitations are.

Benefits You Can Access Informally

Child-Only Family Independence (TANF): You can apply for cash assistance on behalf of the child at your county SCDSS office using Form 3800. As a non-needy caretaker, your income, retirement benefits, and savings are completely excluded from the eligibility determination. Only income in the child's name counts. Payments range from $229 per month for one child to $388 for three children.

Partners for Healthy Children Medicaid: The child can qualify for health coverage through SCDHHS with income limits up to 213% of the federal poverty level. If you do not claim the child as a tax dependent, your income is excluded entirely — the child's Medicaid household consists only of the child and any siblings.

SNAP (food assistance): You can apply as a household. Unlike TANF and Medicaid, SNAP counts your income if you buy and prepare food together with the child. But households with a member age 60 or older benefit from the net-only income test and uncapped medical expense deductions.

WIC: If the child is under 5, they can receive WIC nutrition benefits regardless of your custody arrangement. Receiving Medicaid or SNAP creates adjunctive eligibility.

School meals: Children on SNAP or Family Independence are directly certified for free school breakfast and lunch.

What Informal Care Does Not Give You

KinGAP payments: The Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program requires the child to have been in SCDSS legal custody and placed with a licensed relative foster parent for at least six months. Informal caregivers cannot access these higher payments ($670–$783 per month).

Foster care board rates: Same requirement — SCDSS custody plus foster licensing.

SC Voucher child care with copay waivers: Priority enrollment with waived copayments is reserved for children placed through child protective or preventive services. Informal caregivers may qualify through general enrollment when applications reopen, but they pay standard copayments.

Reliable school and medical consent: Schools and hospitals may refuse to accept your word alone as legal authority to enroll a child or authorize treatment. A Power of Attorney under S.C. Code § 63-15-720 — which does not require a court and costs nothing beyond a notary fee — solves this problem.

The SCDSS Kinship Care Program

The SCDSS Kinship Navigator program operates through county offices statewide. A kinship care coordinator can:

• Connect you with local resources and referrals
• Explain which benefits your arrangement qualifies for
• Help you understand the foster care licensing pathway if you want access to higher payments
• Point you to South Carolina Legal Services for free legal help with guardianship

Contact your county DSS office or visit dss.sc.gov/child-well-being/kinship-care/ to reach the Kinship Navigator.

Should You Formalize Your Arrangement?

Informal care works when the parent is cooperative and the child's immediate needs are met. But it leaves gaps in legal authority and financial support. A Power of Attorney under § 63-15-720 adds school enrollment, medical consent, and a documented record of your caregiving role — all without a court filing.

For a complete roadmap of every benefit available at each level of care — informal, POA, guardianship, and foster care — the South Carolina Kinship Financial Help Guide walks through the programs, income rules, and application steps in one place.

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