Virginia TANF Child-Only Grant for Grandparents — How to Apply

What a Child-Only TANF Grant Actually Means

When you apply for TANF in Virginia as a non-parent relative — grandparent, aunt, uncle, great-grandparent — you can file strictly on behalf of the child. The Virginia Department of Social Services calls this a "child-only" or "payee TANF" case. The critical difference from a standard family TANF case: your income, your savings, your retirement accounts, and your assets are completely excluded from the eligibility calculation.

Only the child's own income matters. That means Social Security survivor benefits paid directly to the child, any child support the child receives, or other countable income in the child's name. The child must also meet Virginia's age, residency, relationship, citizenship or qualified-immigrant, and Social Security number requirements.

You do not need a court custody order to apply. An informal arrangement — the child lives with you full-time — is enough as long as you can document the relationship and the child's residence in your home.

How Much Virginia Pays

Virginia groups localities into two payment schedules (Group II and Group III) based on regional cost of living. Group III includes higher-cost jurisdictions like Arlington, Fairfax, and Alexandria. The monthly grant amount depends on the number of children in your care and which group your county falls into.

The grant amount is reduced dollar-for-dollar by any countable unearned income the child receives directly — mainly child support passed through from DCSE. But here is what catches many caregivers off guard: the child's countable income has to be substantial before it wipes out the grant entirely, and most kinship-placed children receive little or nothing.

There is no 60-month lifetime limit on child-only cases. The federal time cap applies only to adult recipients. A child can receive benefits while under 18, or at age 18 if enrolled full-time in secondary school or equivalent vocational training.

How to Apply Through CommonHelp

The fastest route is the CommonHelp online portal at commonhelp.virginia.gov. You can also call the Enterprise Customer Service Center at 1-855-635-4370 or submit a paper application (Form 032-03-1100-39) at your local Department of Social Services office.

When applying online, select benefits for the child only. Do not add yourself to the assistance unit unless you want your own income counted — that converts the case from child-only to a standard family case, which subjects you to income limits, work requirements under VIEW, and the 60-month time cap.

Documents you will need:

• Child's birth certificate (or hospital Newborn Summary, baptismal record, or school record if the birth certificate is unavailable)
• Child's Social Security number or proof you have applied for one
• Your government-issued photo ID
• Proof the child lives with you (school enrollment letter, medical records showing your address, or a utility bill)
• Proof of relationship (birth or marriage certificates connecting you to the child)

Virginia law requires immunization verification for the child. If you cannot provide it within 12 months, the grant is reduced by $50/month for the first child and $25/month for each additional child until you comply.

What to Do If the Local Office Asks for Your Income

This is the single most common problem reported by kinship caregivers across Virginia. A front-desk intake worker at your local DSS may ask for your pay stubs, bank statements, or tax returns and then deny the application based on your household income. Under VDSS policy for child-only cases, that denial is improper.

If this happens, request a supervisor review. Ask the worker to look at the TANF Guidance Manual Chapter 200, which specifies that the non-needy caretaker relative's income and resources are excluded. If the supervisor upholds the denial, you have 30 calendar days from the date the Notice of Action was mailed to request a Fair Hearing. For a reduction or termination of current benefits, filing within 10 calendar days of the advance notice date can keep benefits unchanged while the appeal is pending; a first-time denial has no existing benefit to continue.

The Virginia kinship financial help guide includes a supervisor escalation checklist with the exact policy citations to reference.

Child Support Cooperation — and the Good Cause Exception

Applying for child-only TANF automatically assigns the child's support rights to the Commonwealth. You are expected to cooperate with the Division of Child Support Enforcement in identifying and locating the child's absent parents.

If cooperation would put the child or you at risk — because the absent parent is violent, incarcerated for harm to the child, or the circumstances that led to kinship care make contact dangerous — you can request a Good Cause Exception using Form 032-03-0036. The agency is required to pause enforcement while they evaluate the exception. They cannot promise the absent parent will not be contacted without a formal finding, but the process exists specifically to protect caregivers in these situations.

What Child-Only TANF Does Not Cover

A TANF child-only grant is cash assistance. It does not automatically include health coverage (apply separately through FAMIS or Medicaid via Cover Virginia), food assistance (apply separately for SNAP), or childcare subsidies (a separate VDOE program with its own work-activity requirements).

The good news: applying for TANF through CommonHelp lets you check multiple programs on the same application, so you can request SNAP and health coverage in one submission.

For the complete program-by-program breakdown — including KinGAP, the state-funded kinship subsidy, WIC, and emergency assistance — the Virginia kinship financial help guide walks through every benefit, every agency, and every document you need.

See more Virginia guides →