Kansas Foster Care Payment Rates: What Foster Parents Are Paid in 2025

Foster parents in Kansas receive a monthly board payment intended to cover the basic costs of caring for a child — food, clothing, personal care, school supplies, and incidentals. These payments are not income in the traditional sense; they are reimbursements that are generally not counted as gross income for federal income tax purposes. What the state pays, how it is structured, and how it relates to adoption assistance are questions most families have before they start the licensing process.

How Kansas Foster Care Payments Work

Foster care board payments in Kansas are made by the CWCMP contractor (TFI, KVC, Saint Francis, Cornerstones, EmberHope) assigned to your county. The contractor receives reimbursement from DCF and passes the payment to foster families. Payments are made monthly, usually by direct deposit or check, and are linked to the child's placement status.

Payments cover the period the child is in your care. They stop when the child leaves your home — whether to reunification, a different placement, or adoption finalization.

Payment Rate Structure

Kansas foster care payments depend on the child's age and assessed level of care. Contractors may use categories such as basic, moderate, enhanced, and therapeutic; confirm the labels and criteria in your region. The commonly described levels are:

Basic care: For children without identified special needs or significant behavioral/medical requirements. This is the entry-level rate that applies to most initial placements.

Moderate care: For children with moderate behavioral, emotional, or developmental needs that require additional supervision, therapeutic support, or specialized care.

Enhanced care: For children with significant special needs — serious behavioral challenges, medical complexity, or histories of severe trauma that require a higher level of parental involvement and professional support.

Kansas does not publish a single statewide rate schedule in a user-friendly format, and individual rates can vary based on DCF policy updates. Do not rely on generic age-based figures when budgeting for a placement. The contractors are the accurate source for current basic, moderate, enhanced, and therapeutic rates in your specific region and for the child's assessed needs.

Contact your regional contractor for the exact current rates applicable to your county and the specific child's assessed needs.

What Foster Care Payments Do and Do Not Cover

The board rate is intended to cover:

• Food
• Clothing and shoes (including seasonal replacement)
• School supplies
• Personal hygiene items
• Recreational activities at a basic level
• Transportation costs related to the child's appointments and school

The board rate does not cover:

• Medical costs (KanCare/Medicaid covers health care for most children in foster care)
• Therapeutic services beyond what is covered by Medicaid
• Significant extracurricular activity costs beyond the basic rate
• Childcare costs for working foster parents (though many contractors offer childcare assistance separately)

Medicaid Coverage for Children in Foster Care

Children in Kansas DCF foster care generally receive KanCare, the Kansas Medicaid program. Coverage does not mean that every service is automatically paid; confirm covered services, network requirements, and prior-authorization rules with the care-coordination team. KanCare generally covers:

• Pediatric primary and specialty care
• Mental health services and therapy
• Dental and vision
• Prescription medications
• Hospital care

Some therapeutic services for children with complex needs may require prior authorization, and the process for that authorization runs through the contractor's care coordination team.

Adoption Assistance vs. Foster Care Payments

When foster parents adopt a child from the foster care system, the foster care board payment stops at the moment of adoption finalization. However, families who adopt children with special needs can replace those payments with an adoption assistance subsidy — a separate, negotiated monthly payment.

The key difference: the adoption assistance subsidy is negotiated based on the child's specific needs, and the negotiation must happen before the adoption decree is finalized. Families often assume the subsidy will automatically match their existing foster care board rate. It will not unless you specifically negotiate for that amount.

The adoption assistance subsidy is not simply a renamed foster care payment. It is a separate legal agreement with DCF that can include:

• A specific monthly dollar amount
• KanCare (Medicaid) coverage, with the coverage period confirmed for the child's program status
• Any agreed-upon services

Families who do not negotiate the initial subsidy before finalization generally lose the opportunity to establish that initial amount later. A separate review may be available if the child's needs change significantly, but the baseline amount set at finalization is difficult to increase.

Non-Recurring Adoption Expense Reimbursement

Separate from the monthly subsidy, Kansas offers a one-time reimbursement of up to $2,000 per child for non-recurring adoption expenses. This covers:

• Attorney and court fees for the adoption proceeding
• Home study fees (if not already covered by the contractor)
• Transportation costs specific to the adoption process
• Medical examination fees required for the adoption

This reimbursement is claimed after finalization. Families must document their expenses with receipts. Many families fail to claim this benefit because their contractor did not mention it or because they assumed it did not apply to them. Eligibility and claim requirements depend on the adoption-assistance agreement and program rules; ask the contractor how to claim it.

Relative and Kinship Caregiver Rates

Relatives who become licensed foster parents through the "relative foster care" licensing process receive the same board rates as non-relative foster parents. For unlicensed kinship caregivers, payment and service eligibility depends on the placement and program status; confirm the current rules with DCF or the contractor.

For kinship families, the decision about whether to pursue full foster care licensing (versus an informal kinship arrangement or a guardianship) has direct financial implications. Payment and service eligibility differ by licensing and program status, so ask DCF or the contractor before relying on an informal arrangement. Licensed kinship foster parents also preserve the option to adopt later with access to adoption assistance.

Foster care payments are designed to keep a placement from being a financial burden — they are not designed to generate profit. If you are considering fostering or adopting in Kansas and want to understand the full financial picture — from licensing through subsidy negotiation to the federal Adoption Tax Credit — the Kansas Adoption Process Guide covers the financial dimensions of the process alongside the procedural steps.

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