Best Foster Care Licensing Resource for New Hampshire Kinship Caregivers

The best foster care licensing resource for New Hampshire kinship caregivers is one built for the specific situation they are actually in: a child was removed by DCYF and placed in their home — often within hours — and now they need to understand Form 2273, the Family Assistance Program, and the difference between licensed and unlicensed kinship care before the next caseworker visit. That resource is not the DHHS website, which was designed for planned applicants moving through a months-long process. It is not NHFAPA, which serves current licensed parents. It is a structured guide built around a first-48-hours action plan, the kinship care pathway under RSA 169-C:19-h, and the financial reality that unlicensed relative care pays dramatically less than licensed foster care.

If a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or family friend is reading this because a child was just placed in their home — this page covers what matters most.

The Kinship Caregiver's Situation Is Different

New Hampshire gives priority placement to relatives and "fictive kin" when a child is removed by DCYF. Under RSA 169-C:19-h, DCYF is required to first seek out appropriate relatives before placing a child in a non-relative foster home. This is the right policy — it keeps children in familiar environments during a traumatic transition. But the operational reality is that kinship caregivers are pulled into the system under conditions that prospective foster parents never face: immediately, with little warning, during a family crisis.

The person who just became a temporary caregiver for their grandchild is not in a position to spend six months researching the DCYF licensing process the way a planned applicant might. They need answers now. What forms need to be signed this week? What financial support is available while waiting for licensure? Does the child have Medicaid coverage? What happens if they don't pursue formal licensing?

That last question is where the stakes are highest.

The Licensed vs. Unlicensed Financial Gap

New Hampshire does not require kinship caregivers to be licensed. A relative can care for a child informally under a DCYF placement without going through the full licensing process. The state "strongly encourages" licensure — because the financial difference between the two pathways is significant, and because licensed kinship homes give the state more flexibility in the types of placements they can make.

Unlicensed relative caregivers typically receive support through the Family Assistance Program (FAP) at the TANF grant level. Licensed kinship foster parents receive the same daily foster care rates as non-relative foster parents. For a school-age child, that is $38.51 per day at the General Rate — roughly $1,155 per month. The FAP TANF grant is substantially lower, often less than half that amount.

For a grandparent on a fixed income who suddenly has a grandchild living with them full-time, that gap is not abstract. It determines whether the placement is financially sustainable.

The Relative Caregiver Agreement (Form 2273) is the document that formalizes the kinship placement before full licensure is complete. Understanding what Form 2273 means — and what it does not give you in terms of financial support — is the most urgent financial literacy question a kinship caregiver faces in the first week.

What Kinship Caregivers Need in the First 48 Hours

The first 48 hours of an emergency kinship placement involve a specific set of practical actions that are distinct from the standard foster care licensing process:

1. Confirm the placement type and your legal status. Is this an emergency placement under RSA 169-C:19-h? A voluntary kinship placement? A court order? The type of placement affects which forms apply and which support programs are available immediately.

2. Sign Form 2273 if offered. The Relative Caregiver Agreement gives DCYF the authority to make placement decisions while you pursue formal licensing. Read it carefully — it has implications for your decision-making authority over the child.

3. Apply for the Family Assistance Program immediately. FAP provides financial assistance while full licensing is pending. You are not automatically enrolled — you must apply. Delays in applying mean delays in receiving support.

4. Confirm the child's Medicaid enrollment. Children in foster care placements are entitled to Medicaid coverage. Confirming active enrollment early prevents gaps in medical care.

5. Contact your DCYF district office resource worker to clarify your licensing options. Your district office determines your specific timelines. New Hampshire has 11 DCYF district offices; which one is assigned to your placement depends on the county where the child was removed.

6. Begin parallel licensing steps immediately. Even if you are not required to be licensed, beginning the process now — initiating background checks, identifying your home safety items — compresses the timeline. Background checks, especially the FBI national fingerprint-based check and out-of-state child abuse registry checks, are the most common source of delays and should start on day one.

Why the DHHS Website Falls Short for Kinship Caregivers

The DHHS/DCYF website contains the official kinship care page, the He-C 6446 administrative rules, and links to the forms. What it does not do is organize that information around the situation a kinship caregiver is actually in on day one. The website was designed for planned applicants — people who have chosen to start the foster care process and are working through it over months.

Kinship caregivers face a compressed and emotionally charged version of that process. The information they need is spread across multiple DHHS pages, a 30-page regulatory document, the FAP application through the Division of Family Assistance, and policy documents that reference each other without explanation. Assembling those pieces in the middle of a family crisis is a significant ask.

NHFAPA's resources, while excellent for current licensed parents, are oriented toward peer support and legislative advocacy — not toward the first-week mechanics of an emergency placement. Waypoint and other private agencies provide responsive support, but they are state-contracted; they cannot always give the unfiltered explanation of where the financial differences lie between licensed and unlicensed care.

The Constraints That Define This Group

Kinship caregivers in New Hampshire face a consistent set of constraints that generic foster care resources do not address:

Fixed or limited income. Many grandparents and relative caregivers are retired or working part-time. The difference between FAP and licensed daily rates is not a preference — it determines whether the placement is financially viable.

Unfamiliarity with DCYF. Many kinship caregivers have had no previous contact with the child welfare system. They are navigating the language, the forms, and the caseworker relationships for the first time, while simultaneously managing the emotional weight of a family crisis.

Immediate need. The six-to-eighteen-month research period that characterizes planned foster care applicants does not exist for kinship caregivers. They need answers in days, not months.

Home safety catch-up. A grandparent's home was built for adults. It may have medications stored in accessible bathroom cabinets, a guest bedroom that doesn't meet He-C 6446 bedroom separation standards, or firearms stored in a way that doesn't comply with the separate locked containers requirement. These are fixable — but they need to be identified and addressed before the home inspection, not after a failed visit.

Geographic isolation, particularly in the North Country. A grandparent in Coos County who becomes a kinship caregiver for a grandchild removed from Berlin may face 40-plus miles to the nearest district office, limited training cohort availability, and fewer peer support resources than families in the Manchester-Nashua corridor.

Who This Is For

• Grandparents who had a grandchild placed with them by DCYF on an emergency basis and are trying to understand what happens next
• Aunts, uncles, or family friends who agreed to take in a child and are now navigating the difference between informal kinship care and formal licensing
• Relative caregivers on fixed incomes who need to understand the financial implications of licensed versus unlicensed care before deciding whether to pursue full licensure
• Anyone who signed Form 2273 and does not fully understand what it means for their rights and financial support
• Kinship families in rural New Hampshire who are managing the process at a distance from district offices and training resources

Who This Is NOT For

• Planned foster care applicants who are beginning the process without an existing emergency placement — the licensing guide covers both pathways, but the kinship chapter specifically addresses the emergency placement scenario
• Families who are already licensed kinship foster parents — NHFAPA peer support and the DCYF Caregiver Resource Library are more relevant for ongoing support
• Families pursuing private adoption rather than kinship foster care licensing

Tradeoffs: Honest Assessment

The kinship foster care pathway in New Hampshire involves tradeoffs that no resource can fully resolve — they are built into the system. Pursuing full licensure takes time and involves training and home inspection requirements that feel burdensome when you are already caring for a child in crisis. But the financial gap between unlicensed care and licensed care is substantial and ongoing. Families who delay licensing because it feels too complicated in the moment often find themselves on the lower FAP rate for months longer than necessary.

The decision to pursue licensure is not just about finances — it also affects the types of placements available to you, your access to respite care (14 days per year per child for licensed parents), and the support resources available through DCYF. A guide that walks you through the kinship-specific pathway can compress the process significantly by eliminating the research time that prevents families from starting in the first week.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to be licensed to keep my grandchild in New Hampshire? No. New Hampshire does not require relative caregivers to be licensed. However, unlicensed kinship placements receive financial support at the FAP/TANF level, which is substantially lower than the licensed daily foster care rates. Licensure is optional but has significant financial implications.

What is Form 2273 and do I have to sign it? Form 2273 is the Relative Caregiver Agreement. It formalizes the kinship placement and gives DCYF authority to make placement decisions while you pursue licensing or remain in an informal placement. Your resource worker will typically request that you sign it early in the process. Read it carefully before signing, particularly the sections related to your decision-making authority over the child's medical care, education, and travel.

How quickly can I get the Family Assistance Program started? FAP applications through the Division of Family Assistance should be submitted as soon as the placement is confirmed. There is no automatic enrollment. Processing time varies, but applying on day one prevents the delays that come from waiting until the placement is formally documented.

What background checks does a kinship caregiver need to pass? The same five checks required of all New Hampshire foster parents: NH State Criminal Records, FBI national fingerprint-based check via Livescan, DCYF Central Registry, Sex Offender Registry, and local police check. Out-of-state child abuse registry checks are also required if any adult household member has lived in another state. These are the single most common source of licensing delays.

Can I start CWEP training while also caring for an emergency placement? Yes. CWEP pre-service training can be initiated in parallel with your active kinship placement. The 23-hour requirement — 2 online hours plus 21 hours of live web-conferencing sessions — does not need to be completed before you begin caring for a child, but it must be completed before your full license is issued. Missing a single session pushes the cohort completion date back.

What if my home doesn't fully meet He-C 6446 requirements right now? Most kinship homes require some modifications to meet the physical environment standards: medication lockup, firearms stored in separate locked containers from ammunition, smoke detectors, fire extinguisher currency, and potentially bedroom separation if the child is over age 1 or over age 5 and opposite gender. A structured checklist helps identify what needs to change before the inspection, rather than discovering it during.

For the complete kinship care pathway — the Form 2273 walkthrough, the licensed vs. unlicensed financial comparison with current daily rates, the first-48-hours action plan, the background check sequence that avoids common delays, and the North Country logistics planner — the New Hampshire Foster Care Licensing Guide covers every step from emergency placement to full licensure.

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