Delaware Kinship Care Requirements

When a child in your family enters the foster care system — a grandchild, niece, nephew, or the child of a close friend — the state's first preference is to place them with someone they already know and trust. That's the idea behind kinship care. But the reality of becoming a kinship caregiver in Delaware is that you're suddenly thrust into a bureaucratic process designed for strangers, often with zero preparation and a social worker calling you today about a child who needs a bed tonight.

How Kinship Care Differs from Traditional Foster Care

Kinship placements in Delaware follow the same DFS licensing framework as traditional foster homes, but with critical differences in timing, flexibility, and how quickly the process can move.

When a child is removed from their home in an emergency, DFS can place them with a relative or close family friend before the full licensing process is complete. This "emergency kinship placement" gets the child into a familiar environment immediately, which research consistently shows produces better outcomes than placing a traumatized child with strangers. But you'll still need to complete licensing within a defined timeframe — the placement is provisional, not permanent, and DFS expects you to move through the licensing steps without unnecessary delay.

To qualify as a kinship caregiver, you generally need to be related within the fifth degree of kinship (grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-aunts, first cousins) or have a pre-existing significant relationship with the child. "Significant relationship" is evaluated case by case — a longtime family friend, a godparent, or a teacher who has a close bond with the child may qualify. DFS also considers household income — kinship caregivers may need household income below 200% of the federal poverty level to be eligible for certain enhanced support programs, though this threshold applies to specific assistance programs, not to the license itself.

The Licensing Process for Kinship Caregivers

Even though you already know the child, DFS still requires background checks for every household member aged 18 and older — the same four-part investigation (SBI, FBI, Child Protection Registry, and National Sex Offender Registry) that traditional applicants undergo. A home safety inspection under 9 DE Admin. Code 201 is mandatory, covering the same standards around bedroom size, water temperature, fire safety, locked medications, and firearm storage. A modified home study assessment evaluates your household's ability to provide safe, stable care.

The key difference is pacing. For traditional applicants, the four-to-seven-month timeline is standard. For kinship caregivers with an emergency placement, DFS expedites the background checks and home study because the child is already in your care. But "expedited" still means weeks, not days — fingerprint processing takes time regardless of urgency, and the home inspection requires scheduling a worker visit. During that provisional period, you're caring for the child full-time without the financial supports that come with full licensure.

You'll still need to complete PRIDE training (27-30 hours across nine sessions), though DFS sometimes allows kinship caregivers to begin training after placement rather than before. This is a significant accommodation — traditional applicants must finish PRIDE before they can be licensed. CPR and First Aid certification, mandated reporter training, and the standard medical evaluation are also required, just on an adjusted timeline.

Financial Supports for Kinship Caregivers

This is where things get confusing, and where the difference between formal and informal kinship care really matters.

If you become a fully licensed kinship foster parent through DFS, you receive the same board rates as any other foster parent — $13.04 to $20.79 per day depending on the child's age and level of care. The child will be enrolled in the Diamond State Health Plan (DSHP) for full Medicaid coverage including medical, dental, vision, and behavioral health services. You'll receive the initial clothing payment ($120 to $211 depending on age), the daily clothing allowance, and access to the same support services available to all licensed foster families.

If you take informal custody — meaning you step in to care for a relative's child without going through DFS — you generally don't receive board payments, and the child may not automatically qualify for Medicaid through the foster care system. You might be eligible for TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) child-only payments, but these are significantly lower than foster care board rates. This is a critical distinction: going through the formal licensing process, even though it's more paperwork and more intrusive home visits, unlocks substantially more financial and medical support for both you and the child.

Agency Support for Kinship Families

A Better Chance for Our Children (ABCFOC) is the primary private agency in Delaware that specializes in kinship care support. They understand the unique dynamics of relative placements and can help you navigate the licensing process while managing the immediate demands of caring for a child who just arrived in crisis. They also provide support groups specifically for kinship caregivers, which can be invaluable because the challenges you face — navigating your relationship with the birth parent, managing loyalty conflicts, dealing with the child's questions about why they can't go home — are different from what non-relative foster parents experience.

The Delaware Foster Parent Association also provides cluster meeting support and can connect you with other kinship families in your county.

The Emotional Dimension

Kinship care adds layers of complexity that traditional foster care doesn't have. You're not just caring for a child — you're navigating the fallout of a family crisis. The birth parent may be your own child, your sibling, or a close friend. Court hearings feel different when you're testifying about someone you love. Visits are more complicated when the birth parent can call you directly, show up at family events, or leverage existing relationships to pressure you.

In Delaware's small communities, maintaining confidentiality is especially challenging. You might live in the same town as the birth parent. Your other family members may have strong opinions about DFS involvement. Extended family dynamics — loyalty conflicts, blame, denial about the birth parent's problems — can make kinship placements emotionally harder than caring for a child you have no prior connection to.

DFS expects kinship caregivers to maintain the same professional boundaries around confidentiality and birth parent relationships that traditional foster parents follow. The PRIDE training on concurrent planning (supporting reunification while serving as a permanent backup) takes on added weight when the person you're coparenting with is your own family member.

If you've just received a call from DFS about a child in your family and need to understand exactly what comes next, our Delaware Foster Care Licensing Guide covers the kinship licensing pathway step by step, including the emergency placement process, financial supports available while your license is pending, and how to navigate family relationships during the case.

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