By Maria Carter
Kansas City, MO – Some 34,000 children in Kansas are being raised by their grandparents. That's according to the U-S census bureau. Now, some grandparents in Kansas will get a little extra money to help raise their grandchildren. KCUR's Maria Carter reports.
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Low income grandparents will get 200 dollars per child each month for as many as 3 children under a new Kansas law. The program is limited to grandparents over the age of 50 and with incomes less than 130 percent of poverty level, about 22-thousand dollars for a family of three. The Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services estimates some 1,400 families will qualify for the program. Spokesperson Mike Deines says the program will provide a little extra money to keep families together.
Mike Deines: "We want to do everything we can to help these folks. Raising a child can be pretty expensive, so this program was designed to give them some additional resources to help them through that policy."
The program is funded for some 2 million dollars and will cover children under the age 0f 18, or 21 if they're still in school.