South Carolina KinGAP Guardianship Assistance Program

What KinGAP Is

The Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program is South Carolina's permanent financial subsidy for relatives who take legal guardianship of children who were in state foster care. It was established by Senate Bill 380 (Act 59, signed November 2023) and became fully operational in 2024, codified at S.C. Code § 63-7-2870.

KinGAP pays a negotiated monthly subsidy — up to the child's foster care maintenance rate — after the child exits the foster care system into the relative's legal guardianship. The payment continues until the child turns 18 (or 21 if they are completing secondary education or have a documented disability).

The Six-Step Eligibility Sequence

KinGAP has strict prerequisites that must happen in order:

1. The child is formally removed from their home and placed in SCDSS legal custody by court order
2. You become a fully licensed relative foster parent under South Carolina standards
3. The child lives with you as a licensed foster placement for at least six consecutive months
4. Reunification with the biological parents and adoption are both ruled out as permanency options by the Family Court
5. You and SCDSS execute a written KinGAP Subsidy Agreement before the court grants guardianship
6. The Family Court enters the guardianship order and the child exits foster care

Step 5 is the one that destroys eligibility if missed. If you finalize guardianship in court before the KinGAP agreement is signed, you are permanently locked out of the subsidy. There is no retroactive fix.

Payment Amounts

The monthly payment is individually negotiated between you and SCDSS. The maximum is the child's applicable foster care maintenance rate:

• Ages 0–5: up to $670/month ($21.47/day)
• Ages 6–12: up to $783/month ($25.07/day)
• Special circumstances: $27.92–$32.00/day

KinGAP also reimburses up to $2,000 in one-time nonrecurring legal costs — court filing fees, attorney expenses — related to finalizing the guardianship.

Medicaid and Other Benefits

Children receiving KinGAP automatically retain Medicaid coverage. You do not need to reapply.

KinGAP payments are treated as unearned income for SNAP purposes, which may reduce your household's food assistance benefit. They are excluded from TANF and child care assistance calculations.

You can also designate a successor guardian in the KinGAP agreement. If you die or become incapacitated, the named successor can continue the subsidy without interruption.

Who Does Not Qualify

KinGAP is not available to:

• Informal caregivers — the child must have been in SCDSS legal custody
• Relatives who obtained private guardianship through Family Court without going through the foster care system first
• Caregivers who finalized guardianship before signing the KinGAP agreement

If you are raising a child informally or through a power of attorney, the child-only TANF pathway ($229–$388 per month) and Medicaid through Partners for Healthy Children are your primary financial supports. KinGAP only opens after the child has been through the foster care pipeline.

Getting Help With the Process

The SCDSS Kinship Navigator program and your county DSS office can walk you through the foster care licensing requirements and the KinGAP agreement timeline. South Carolina Legal Services may provide free legal representation for the guardianship petition.

The South Carolina Kinship Financial Help Guide covers the full spectrum — from informal care benefits through the KinGAP pathway — with a side-by-side comparison of what each arrangement pays and requires.

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