Wyoming Benefits for Aunts, Uncles, and Siblings Raising a Relative's Child

Not Just Grandparents

Most of what you read about kinship care focuses on grandparents raising grandchildren. But in Wyoming, aunts, uncles, adult siblings, and other relatives connected by blood, marriage, or adoption have the same access to the POWER Caretaker Relative program and other state benefits. The eligibility question is about kinship, not age.

Who Counts as a Qualified Relative

For the POWER Caretaker Relative child-only cash grant, DFS requires that the caregiver be a "specified relative" — someone connected to the child by blood, marriage, or adoption. This includes:

• Grandparents
• Aunts and uncles
• Adult siblings (age 18 or older)
• Great-aunts, great-uncles, great-grandparents
• Step-relatives (stepgrandparent, step-aunt) through a current or former marriage
• Cousins in some degree

The caregiver must exercise daily care and control of the child, and the child's parents must be absent from the home. You do not need a court order, guardianship, or custody papers — informal arrangements qualify.

Family friends, neighbors, and unrelated caregivers do not qualify for the POWER Caretaker Relative grant, regardless of how long they have cared for the child or how close the relationship feels. The program's statutory definition is kinship-based.

An Aunt or Uncle Raising a Niece or Nephew

If you are an aunt or uncle raising your sibling's child, the POWER Caretaker Relative program works exactly the same as it does for grandparents. Your personal income — wages, salary, any source — is completely excluded from the eligibility calculation. Only the child's own income and resources are evaluated. The maximum child-only grant is $259 per month for one child.

You can also apply for SNAP food assistance (household income counts, but adding the child increases your household size and available deductions), Kid Care CHIP or Medicaid for the child (your income likely excluded under non-filer rules), LIEAP heating assistance, and ECARES childcare subsidies if you are working or in training.

The working aunt or uncle has one advantage over a retired grandparent: the ECARES childcare subsidy requires an approved work or training activity, which an employed caregiver already meets. If the income counted for the child care assistance unit is under 175% FPL, the childcare subsidy can cover a significant portion of eligible child care costs.

An Adult Sibling Raising a Younger Sibling

A 20-year-old raising their 8-year-old brother after a parent's death or incapacitation qualifies as a specified caretaker relative for POWER purposes. The adult sibling's income is excluded from the child-only grant calculation.

The practical challenge for young adult siblings is usually documentation. You need proof that you exercise daily care and control of the child — school enrollment records, medical records, or a statement from the child's school showing your address. And you need proof of the sibling relationship, which is typically both birth certificates showing the same parent.

Young adult siblings should also apply for Medicaid for the child and investigate whether they themselves qualify for Medicaid or a marketplace health plan with subsidies.

When the Caregiver Is Not a Relative

If you are a family friend, godparent, or neighbor raising a child, you are not eligible for the POWER Caretaker Relative child-only grant. But the child may still qualify for Medicaid or CHIP based on their own income, and you can apply for SNAP for the household. You may also contact DFS about becoming a licensed foster parent, which opens a different set of financial support.

A private guardianship order from the District Court gives you legal custody and decision-making authority, but it does not create eligibility for the relative-only POWER grant. The kinship requirement is in the statute, not in the court order.

Kinship Connections of Wyoming (call 2-1-1 or visit kcowyo.org) can help non-relatives navigate their options and connect with community resources.

For the full program-by-program breakdown of what each type of caregiver can access in Wyoming, the Wyoming Kinship Financial Help Guide covers POWER, SNAP, Medicaid, CHIP, ECARES, LIEAP, guardianship subsidies, and Title III-E respite care — with income worksheets and document checklists for each.

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