TAFDC Grandparent Income Not Counted in Massachusetts: What the Rules Actually Say

The Income Exemption, Explained

When a grandparent or relative applies for TAFDC on behalf of a child — without including themselves in the assistance unit — DTA evaluates only the child's own financial resources. The caregiver's Social Security checks, pension, wages, savings accounts, home equity, and retirement funds are completely excluded from the calculation.

This is codified in 106 CMR, the DTA regulations governing TAFDC. The term DTA uses is a "non-needy caretaker relative," and it means exactly what it sounds like: you are the caretaker, you are related, and your own financial situation is not part of the eligibility decision.

Why Caseworkers Sometimes Get It Wrong

A recurring problem reported by Massachusetts kinship caregivers is that frontline DTA intake workers occasionally apply the wrong income rules. A grandparent walks in, mentions a pension, and the worker assumes the household is over the income limit. This is incorrect for a child-only case.

If this happens to you, the statutory reference to cite is 106 CMR 704.236 — the grandparent deeming regulation. Deeming (counting a grandparent's income against the child's grant) applies only in one narrow situation: when a minor teen parent under age 18 lives in the grandparent's home and applies for TAFDC for their own baby. In that specific scenario, a portion of the grandparent's income is attributed to the teen's case after subtracting 200% of the federal poverty level for the grandparent's own dependents.

If you are a grandparent raising your grandchild directly — without the child's teen parent living in your home — deeming does not apply. Period. Your income stays out of the equation.

No Asset Test Since 2021

Massachusetts eliminated the TAFDC asset limit effective July 1, 2021. Before that date, a child's countable assets had to be below a threshold. Now, the child's bank balance, savings bonds, or trust funds do not disqualify them from receiving a child-only grant.

This change is sometimes missed by older reference materials and even by some agency fact sheets that haven't been updated. The asset test is gone.

No Work Requirement, No Time Limit

Adult TAFDC recipients face work program requirements, mandatory job searches, and a 24-month benefit time limit. None of these apply to a child-only case. As the non-needy caretaker relative, you are not a benefit recipient — the child is. DTA cannot sanction you for not attending job training or penalize the grant for exceeding a time limit.

Child Support Assignment and Good Cause

Applying for TAFDC assigns the child's rights to child support to the Commonwealth. DTA generally requires cooperation with the Child Support Enforcement division to establish parentage and collect from absent parents, unless Good Cause applies.

Relative caregivers may claim Good Cause when pursuing child support is not in the child's best interests. DTA policy says this relative-caregiver claim does not require verification. Use DTA's Assignment of Support Rights, Cooperation with Child Support, or Good Cause Claim form (T-A34/36) to state the claim. Other Good Cause grounds include risk of serious physical or emotional harm, domestic violence, rape or incest, pending adoption proceedings, or situations where contacting the absent parent jeopardizes family safety; supporting records may be relevant to those claims.

What This Means in Practice

A grandmother living on $2,400 a month in Social Security and pension income, owning her home outright, can apply for a TAFDC child-only grant for her grandchild. DTA will not count her income. If the grandchild has no independent income, the child qualifies for a monthly cash grant of roughly $488–$528 (one child, with the rent allowance when housing expenses qualify). The grandmother will not be required to work or attend job programs, and the caregiver is not subject to the adult 24-month limit; the child must continue to meet TAFDC eligibility rules.

The Massachusetts kinship financial help guide includes a plain-language income-counting comparison across TAFDC, SNAP, and MassHealth — three programs that each treat a grandparent's income differently — along with the exact regulatory citations to bring to your DTA appointment.

See more Massachusetts guides →