Kin-GAP

The Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment program (Kin-GAP) is a new permanency option for children in long-term foster care placements with relative caregivers who have become the child's legal guardian. To be eligible to receive a Kin-GAP payment all of the following conditions must be met:

	The child was a dependent of the Juvenile Court placed with the relative for at least 12 consecutive months before the guardianship was ordered by the Juvenile Court and before dependency was dismissed.
	The social worker assessed the relative caregiver and determined that he or she no longer needed the supervision of a social worker or the Juvenile Court and was ready and able to leave the foster care system.
	The relative guardianship was ordered by the Juvenile Court.
	The juvenile court dependency was dismissed on or after January 1, 2000.
	The child is a US citizen, US national or has lawful immigration status.

Kin-GAP payments are equal to the basic foster care rate for the county in which the child resides. Children receiving Kin-GAP are eligible to Difficulty of Care (DOC) only if they were in receipt of it while in foster care. Children receiving Kin-GAP are now eligible to receive clothing allowances.

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