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Volume III | Chapter 3

NON-FINANCIAL CRITERIA: LIVING WITH CARETAKER RELATIVE

Revised 08-01-06

SPECIFIED DEGREE OF RELATIONSHIP When a needy child does not live with a parent or parents, he must live in the house with another adult relative who comes within the specified degree of relationship in order to be eligible for TANF. The child and caretaker relative must live together in a place of residence maintained by the relative as his home. Relatives Within Specified Degree The following is the list of relatives, other than a legal parent, who come within the specified degree of relationship: 1. Brothers or sisters, half-brothers or half-sisters, uncles or aunts, first cousins, first cousins once removed (also known as second cousins), and nephews or nieces. This group also includes individuals described by the prefix of grand, great, or great-great. However, only great-great-great grandparents are designated as specified relatives. First cousins are defined as the children of the brothers and sisters of the dependent child's mother and father; in other words, the children of their uncles and aunts. First cousins once removed, or second cousins, are the children of the parent's first cousin or the children of the dependent child's own first cousin. 2. Stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister, but not the step-grandparent. The relationship of step-grandparent occurs when one of the child's own parents remarries. For instance, if the child's own mother dies and his father marries the second time, the second wife becomes the child's step-mother. Then the step-mother's parents become the child's step-grandparents. A grandparent-in-law is within the required degree. The relationship of grandparent-inlaw occurs when one of the child's grandparents remarries. For instance, if the child's paternal grandmother dies and his paternal grandfather marries again, this second wife of the child's grandfather becomes the child's grandmother-in-law. To restate, a step-grandparent is the parent of the child’s stepmother or stepfather, and is not within the specified degree of relationship for TANF approval. A grandparent-inlaw is the spouse of the child’s actual grandparent, from a remarriage, and is within the specified degree of relationship for TANF approval. 3503