22-03 Version of 10.2 Eligibility for Kinship Care Relative Caring for Child

If the child welfare system places a child with a Kinship Care relative, the Kinship Care relative may qualify for BadgerCare Plus as the caretaker relative of the child if the parent or caretaker relative whose home the child was removed from is not enrolled in BadgerCare Plus as the parent or caretaker of the child.

See Process Help, Section 9.5 Child Welfare Parents, for information on processing the child welfare parent or caretaker relative cases.

The Kinship Care relative is not eligible for BadgerCare Plus as a caretaker relative if the parent or caretaker relative whose home the child was removed from is enrolled in BadgerCare Plus as the parent or caretaker relative under the policy described in Section 10.1 Eligibility for Parent or Caretaker Relative of Child Removed from Home. Instead, the Kinship Care relative may qualify for BadgerCare Plus under the childless adult category.

Example 1

Stacy’s child, Jared, was placed in Kinship Care with Stacy’s mom Laura, who is 55 years old. Stacy files taxes but will not be claiming Jared as her tax dependent. Laura will claim Jared as her tax dependent. There are no other children, tax filers, or tax dependents in either Stacy’s or Laura’s households. If they both apply for BadgerCare Plus and meet all financial and non-financial requirements, Stacy will be eligible for BadgerCare Plus as a parent with a group size of one and Laura as a childless adult with a group size of two.

Example 2

Ben’s daughter, Megan, was placed in Kinship Care with her grandfather James, who is 60 years old. Ben does not file taxes. James does file taxes and will claim Megan as his dependent that year. There are no other children, tax filers, or tax dependents in either Ben’s or James’s households. If they both apply for BadgerCare Plus and meet all financial and non-financial requirements, Ben will be eligible for BadgerCare Plus as a parent with a group size of two and James as a childless adult with a group size of two.

Example 3

Consider the details of Example 2, except James is now 66 years old. Under this example, James would not be eligible for BadgerCare Plus because he is a childless adult over 65 years old. He may, however, be eligible for EBDElderly, Blind, or Disabled Medicaid.

Example 4

Christopher’s son, Braden, was placed in Kinship Care with Christopher’s sister, Vicki. Christopher is claiming Braden as a tax dependent but is not applying for BadgerCare Plus. If Vicki meets all financial and non-financial requirements, Vicki would be eligible for BadgerCare Plus as a caretaker relative with a group size of one.

This page last updated in Release Number: 22-03
Release Date: 12/05/2022
Effective Date: 12/05/2022