About Kinship Care

Help with childcare costs

There are two subsidies that can help with your childcare costs.

• The Childcare Subsidy is for pre-school children who attend an early childhood service. You could get up to 9 hours of childcare a week, and in some cases up to 50 hours a week if you are working, on an approved training course or ill for instance.
• The OSCAR Subsidy is for children aged 5 to 13 (or older if you receive Child Disability Allowance for the child). It helps towards the costs of before and after school care (up to 20 hours a week) and care during the school holidays (up to 50 hours a week). To get this subsidy you must be working, studying, training or doing a work-related activity through Work and Income or you or a member of your family have ill health or disability issues.

Your income, excluding Orphan's Benefit or Unsupported Child's Benefit payments, is counted for both of these subsidies (your assets aren’t counted) – and you can’t get these subsidies if you get Board Payments from Child, Youth and Family for the child. Payments are made directly to the childcare service.

Accommodation Supplement

The Accommodation Supplement helps towards your rent, board or the cost of owning your home. It depends on things like your income, assets and housing costs. You can’t get this allowance if you or your partner have a Housing New Zealand Corporation tenancy agreement.

Help for people with disabilities

There are two allowances that can help if the child you are caring for has a disability.

• The Disability Allowance is for people who have a disability and need ongoing medical care and help with everyday tasks. It helps with things like doctors’ visits, medicines or special food, and can also be paid to adults with disabilities. Your income is counted for this allowance.
• The Child Disability Allowance can help if the child has a serious disability and needs extra care and attention. Your income isn’t counted towards whether you qualify for the Child Disability Allowance.

You may be able to get both allowances for the child at the same time. Your assets aren’t counted for these allowances.

You may also be eligible for help with childcare costs if you or your child, or another dependent child, have ill health or a disability. (Ill health can include age-related ailments.)

You can’t get a Disability Allowance or Child Disability Allowance if you get Board Payments from Child, Youth and Family for the child.

Community Services Card

With this card you’ll pay less on doctors’ fees and prescriptions. The child will get their own card if you get an Unsupported Child's Benefit, Orphan's Benefit or Child Disability Allowance for them. And you’ll get one if you get a benefit for yourself (you can use your card for other children in your care).

Superannuitants and people not on a benefit will need to apply for a card because there are income limits (there are no asset limits).

Please note the child can’t use your Community Services Card if they have their own card – and the card can’t be used for a child who gets Board Payments from Child, Youth and Family.

Help for hardship or emergencies

Work and Income has a range of emergency and hardship payments that may be able to help if you have an urgent need that you can’t afford to pay for right now. And there’s also Temporary Additional Support if you're finding it hard financially. It's a weekly payment to help meet your essential costs while you try to reduce these costs or increase your income.

There are income and asset limits for these payments – and you can only get them in certain situations. So if you’re in hardship or have an emergency, contact us.