Raising a Grandchild on Social Security in Wyoming: What Counts and What Doesn't

The Question Every Retired Grandparent Asks

You are collecting Social Security retirement — maybe $1,800, maybe $2,400 a month — and now a grandchild is living with you. The first thing most grandparents assume is that their income disqualifies the household from any state help.

That assumption is wrong for most programs. But the answer depends on which program you are applying for, because Wyoming's benefit agencies each count income differently.

Programs That Ignore Your Social Security

POWER Caretaker Relative (child-only cash grant) — your Social Security retirement income is completely excluded. DFS evaluates only the child's own income and resources. A grandparent receiving $3,000 a month in Social Security can still qualify a grandchild for the full $259 monthly POWER grant, provided the child has no countable income of their own and resources at or below $5,000.

Kid Care CHIP and Medicaid (child health coverage) — when you apply for the child's health coverage without claiming them as a tax dependent, MAGI non-filer rules apply. The child's eligibility unit includes the child and any parents or siblings who live with the child. Your Social Security income is not part of the calculation solely because you share a home. The child's income — likely zero — is what the Department of Health evaluates for Medicaid or CHIP.

In both cases, the structural design of these programs recognizes that a kinship caregiver's retirement income should not prevent a child from receiving basic support.

Programs That Count Your Social Security

SNAP food assistance — SNAP is a household income program. If you and the grandchild live together and share meals, you form one SNAP household, and your Social Security retirement income counts toward the gross and net income tests. The silver lining is that adding the grandchild increases your household size (which raises income limits), and several deductions can bring your countable income down significantly.

The medical expense deduction applies to household members 60 and older — out-of-pocket medical costs exceeding $35 per month reduce your countable income. Shelter expense deductions and the standard deduction by household size also help. A grandparent receiving $1,800 in Social Security, after deductions, may still qualify for SNAP with a grandchild in the home.

ECARES childcare subsidy — requires an approved activity. For a non-parent relative caretaker, the caregiver's income is excluded unless a court order makes the caregiver financially responsible for the child. Most retired grandparents who do not meet an approved activity requirement are not eligible.

LIEAP heating assistance — counts all household income, but the threshold is relatively generous for small households and the benefit is seasonal.

Social Security Benefits Paid to the Child

Separate from your own retirement income, the grandchild may be receiving Social Security benefits in their own name — survivor benefits if a parent has died, or dependent benefits based on a parent's work record. These payments go directly to the child (or to you as representative payee).

For POWER: survivor or dependent benefits paid to the child count dollar-for-dollar as unearned income against the $259 maximum grant. If the child receives $120 in survivor benefits, the POWER grant drops to $139.

One exception: if the child receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for a disability, the child is removed from the POWER assistance unit entirely. SSI and POWER do not overlap.

For SNAP: the child's Social Security benefits count as unearned income in the household total.

For Medicaid/CHIP: any Social Security benefits paid to the child count toward the child's MAGI calculation, but the amounts are usually low enough that the child still qualifies.

The Bottom Line for Retired Grandparents

Your Social Security retirement does not lock your grandchild out of state help. The POWER child-only grant and Medicaid/CHIP health coverage are specifically designed to look past the caregiver's income. SNAP requires more math, but deductions for seniors often make the household eligible.

The Wyoming Kinship Financial Help Guide includes an income-separation worksheet that maps exactly which of your dollars DFS counts for each program, so you can see before you apply what you are likely eligible for.

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