What Financial Help Is Available When I’m Raising a Relative’s Child in Virginia?

Food, clothes, childcare, transport, school costs, and another person in the household budget add up quickly.

Families sometimes feel uncomfortable asking about money because they do not want anyone to question their commitment to the child. That is the wrong way to look at it.
Knowing how you will meet a child’s needs is part of planning a stable placement. Ask about money early.

The arrangement determines the support

There is no single “kinship payment” that applies to every family.
An approved kinship foster parent caring for a child in foster care has a different support framework from a grandparent with private custody or a caregiver in a short-term Parental Child Safety Placement.
Virginia law provides that kinship foster care placements are eligible for foster care services, and approved kinship foster parents can receive foster care maintenance payments under the applicable rules.
Other arrangements can involve different public benefits or assistance.

Ask for a full explanation

Do not stop at “Is there a payment?”
Ask about the foster care maintenance rate, childcare while you work, medical coverage for the child, transportation or activity support, and any other benefits connected with the child’s status.
If the child is not in foster care, ask what benefits or kinship resources may apply to your custody arrangement. Virginia also points kinship caregivers to statewide resource navigation and local DSS for support.

Long-term permanency has its own rules

For some children who cannot return home, kinship guardianship becomes a permanency option.
Virginia has federal and state-funded Kinship Guardianship Assistance programs with eligibility rules. These programs are not automatic simply because you are a relative. The child’s foster care history, attachment, permanency plan and other requirements matter. Who can consent to medical treatment? Who handles school decisions? What happens if the parent changes their mind? What financial support is available? What is the permanency plan?
Ask those questions before assuming one route is better.

Get case-specific guidance

ESP can explain the foster parent journey and support families who are becoming resource parents. The child’s LDSS worker and, where needed, legal counsel should explain the specific legal arrangement and case consequences.
No blog can decide which route is right for an individual child. The aim is to help you ask better questions before you commit.

Where Extra Special Parents FIT

If you are being asked to care for a relative’s child, ask the worker to name the proposed arrangement and explain what it means. If kinship foster care is the route, Extra Special Parents can support you through the foster parent side of that journey.