Kinship Care in Wisconsin: What Relatives Need to Know

When a child is removed from their parents, Wisconsin's first preference is a relative. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, adult siblings, and close family friends who have an existing relationship with the child — what the state calls "like-kin" — are prioritized over placement with a stranger, even a licensed foster family. That preference is codified in Wis. Stat. § 48.62 and reinforced by DCF's "Putting Families First" initiative, which drove significant changes to the licensing rules in 2025.

But kinship care in Wisconsin comes with a fork in the road: you can provide care informally under a Kinship Care payment, or you can pursue full foster home licensure. The difference affects how much financial support you receive, what training you're required to complete, and what rights you have in the child's case.

The Kinship Care Payment vs. Full Licensure

The Wisconsin Kinship Care Program offers a flat-rate payment of $375 per month per child to relatives who are providing care but are not fully licensed foster parents. This option exists for families who need to step in quickly or who may not want to go through the full licensing process. The application is simpler, the timeline is faster, and you don't need to meet every DCF 56 physical standard.

The trade-off is significant. $375 is a flat rate regardless of the child's age or needs. Licensed Level 2 foster parents receive age-based rates ranging from $463 to $601 per month as of 2026, plus potential supplemental and exceptional payments for children with higher needs. A child with moderate behavioral or medical needs can generate a total monthly payment well above the kinship flat rate.

Additionally, the 2025 revisions to DCF 56 created a streamlined licensing pathway specifically for relatives and like-kin. The goal was to remove barriers that were causing relatives to take the lower Kinship Care payment not out of preference but because full licensing felt inaccessible. The revised pathway allows more agency discretion on certain physical requirements (like the 200-square-foot-per-resident living space rule) and creates faster processing timelines.

DCF's trend is clearly toward encouraging relatives to pursue full licensure rather than the flat Kinship Care rate. If you're a relative stepping in for a child, understanding the financial difference over 12 or 24 months makes the case clearly: the licensing route almost always pays more.

Who Qualifies as Kinship

Wisconsin defines kinship caregivers as relatives of the child by blood, marriage, or adoption. "Like-kin" extends this to adults who have a pre-existing, significant relationship with the child or their family — a godparent, a close family friend, a neighbor the child has known for years.

The courts and agencies are given latitude to evaluate these relationships individually. There's no bright-line rule for what constitutes a "significant" like-kin relationship, but the agency will consider documented evidence of the relationship: how long the adult has known the child, what role they've played, and whether the child has an established bond with them.

The 2025 Relative Licensing Pathway

Under the revised DCF 56 rules that took effect in late 2025, relatives applying for licensure go through a modified version of the standard process:

Background checks are the same as for any applicant — BID form (DCF-F-2978) for all adults 18 and older (and some children 12+), followed by the DOJ state criminal history check and the FBI fingerprint check through Fieldprint. Absolute bars apply to relatives the same as to strangers. A disqualifying criminal history doesn't get waived because you're grandma.

Physical home standards are applied with more flexibility. The licensing agency has authority to interpret square footage and bedroom configuration requirements in ways that reduce barriers for relatives, particularly in cases where the placement is urgent and the home is otherwise safe.

Training requirements are the same: 6 hours of pre-placement training before a child arrives, and for Level 2 licensing, 30 hours of Foundation Training within the first two years.

Capacity exceptions are available for relatives. Under the standard rules, a foster home can house a maximum of six children (including the caregiver's own biological/adopted children). For relative placements and sibling groups, the 2025 rules allow exceptions up to eight children to keep families together.

Financial Support for Licensed Kinship Caregivers

Once fully licensed, relative foster parents receive the same Uniform Foster Care Rate (UFCR) as non-relative foster parents:

If the child has emotional, behavioral, or medical needs documented through a CANS assessment, a supplemental rate is added. For children with exceptional needs requiring continuous awake care, total monthly payments can reach $2,000.

All foster children — including those placed with licensed relatives — are enrolled in BadgerCare Plus (Medicaid) with no copays or deductibles for the caregiver. Working caregivers can access the Wisconsin Shares child care subsidy, with a $0 copayment for foster children enrolled in a YoungStar-rated provider.

Foster care maintenance payments are non-taxable at both the state and federal level. They don't count as income for food stamps, housing assistance, or other means-tested programs.

Rights in the Child's Case

Licensed kinship caregivers have the same rights as non-relative foster parents under Wis. Stat. § 48.62(9): the right to information about the child's history and needs, the right to notice of all court hearings and permanency reviews, and the right to provide a foster parent report to the court.

Unlicensed kinship caregivers under the Kinship Care program have a more limited role. They're providing care, but they don't have the same formal standing in the child's court proceedings.

If you're a relative who has been asked to take a child in an emergency, the most important near-term decision is whether to pursue licensing. The flat Kinship Care payment gets money flowing quickly. But the licensing pathway — which Wisconsin has worked to make more accessible — gives you more financial support, more formal rights, and better standing if the child's case moves toward long-term placement or adoption.

The Wisconsin Foster Care Licensing Guide includes the specific relative licensing checklist, the BID/Fieldprint sequence, and a comparison of the Kinship Care payment versus full licensing rates.

See more United States guides →