Kinship parents can choose to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) until they complete the requirements to receive foster care payments. This is usually, but not always, for a few months. Use the Foster Care Inquiry Tool to closely monitor for training stipends and foster care payments.
If the foster parent receives TANF:
- The kinship foster parent (new custodial person [CP]) is added to the case
- The CHU screen is updated to show:
- DHS (D) custody
- New CP custody (CP sequence number)
- Ensure that the TANF case is cross-referenced for the new CP on the family group number (FGN) (XRU) for Unreimbursed Assistance (URA) purposes
- A separate obligation should be built and balances for the CP’s TANF time period should be added (C case type)
- Current support is retained (Important: If the kinship parent has other child support cases that are not receiving TANF, current support for those children is not assigned or retained).
- Review receipt history to determine if a Finance Action Request should be sent to move receipts to the new CP’s balances
Warning: With kinship placement, it is common for foster care benefits to begin while TANF benefits are still being expended. When this is brought to the worker’s attention, current support is charged as foster care, and not TANF.
It is important to closely monitor these cases using the Foster Care Inquiry Tool in order to avoid overpayments.