On December 29, 2020, Governor Mike DeWine signed an Executive Order, establishing a Kinship Support Program to assist kinship caregivers of children in Ohio’s child welfare system.

The Governor’s order directs the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) to pay all eligible kinship caregivers (related and unrelated) a daily stipend for each child in the custody of Lucas County Children Services (LCCS) that is placed in their home as kin. These KSP payments will continue for not more than nine months while caregivers work with LCCS to become licensed as a foster parent. ODJFS may waive certain non-safety-related foster care licensing requirements to help you become licensed. Once licensed, caregivers will receive foster care payments to care for the child as long as he/she remains in the home.

There is no application process to receive KSP payments. To be eligible, the child must be in the temporary, permanent, or legal custody of a public children services agency (PCSA) like LCCS, and be placed in your home by the PCSA as a kinship placement. Currently licensed foster caregivers are not eligible for this program.

KSP payments will be distributed according to these timeframes:

• For children placed in your home on or before December 29, 2020, caregivers will receive KSP payments for not more than nine months starting December 29, 2020.
• For children placed in your home any day between December 29, 2020 and September 29, 2021, caregivers will receive KSP payments for not more than nine months from the date the child was placed in your home.
• For children placed in your home on or after September 30, 2021, caregivers will receive KSP payments for not more than six months from the date the child was placed in your home.
• Caregivers will receive KSP payments until they become a licensed foster caregiver for the children in their care, until the child is no longer placed in your home as a kinship placement, or the timeframe described above has ended, whichever occurs first.
• The first payments, in the amount of $10.20 per day, per kinship child placed in your home, are scheduled to begin no later than April 2021, and will be retroactive to December 29, 2020 or the date of placement, whichever is more recent.

Kinship Support Program Benefits:

Available to biological relatives and non-related (fictive kin) who are identified by a child’s family.

• Families will be provided the opportunity to obtain a foster care license through the State of Ohio to care for kinship children in need of placement.
• Free training and education will be offered prior to licensing and throughout the placement experience.
• Licensed kinship caregivers will receive a monthly stipend to offset the cost of caring for their kinship children.
• Each caregiver home will be linked with a caseworker, in addition to the family’s caseworker, once they become licensed.
• Families can be linked to community-based services for the children placed in their homes.
• Working caregivers may be eligible for day care services.
• Entitlement services can link kinship children to medical insurance coverage.

Find more information on becoming a foster parent, visit Resources for Becoming a Foster Parent.