Foster Grandparent vs Senior Companion 2026: Stipend & Rules

If you are 55 or older and living on a tight budget, two federal programs will pay you a small stipend to volunteer in your community. One is the Foster Grandparent Program, where you work with children. The other is the Senior Companion Program, where you help other older adults stay in their homes. Both are part of AmeriCorps Seniors, and both are run locally by nonprofits and public agencies.

The money is modest — an hourly stipend, not a wage. But it is tax-free, the federal rules say it cannot be used to cut your other benefits, and the income test leaves out more than most people expect.

This guide compares the two programs side by side, shows the 2026 income lines, and includes a state-by-state count of programs we built from AmeriCorps’ own search tool.

The Short Answer

	Foster Grandparent (FGP)	Senior Companion (SCP)
Who you help	Children and youth under 21 with special or exceptional needs	Adults, mostly older adults, who need help to live on their own
Typical places	Health, education and social service sites — schools are common	Clients’ homes and community settings
Age to join	55 or older	55 or older
Income test for the stipend	200% of the poverty guideline — $31,920 for one person in 2026	Same
Stipend	Hourly; $4.00 is the latest rate AmeriCorps published that we found	Same
Hours	5 to 40 a week (260 to 2,080 a year)	Same
Taxes and benefits	Not taxed; does not reduce other government help	Same
Over the income line?	You can serve without a stipend	Same
Federal rules	45 CFR part 2552	45 CFR part 2551

The rules for the two programs are almost word for word the same. The real choice is who you want to spend your time with.

Foster Grandparents: Working With Children

Under 45 CFR 2552.81, Foster Grandparents serve “only children and youth with special and exceptional needs, or in circumstances that limit their academic, social, or emotional development, who are less than 21 years of age.” The rule’s definitions include children with disabilities, children who need help with reading or math, and children who are abused or neglected, in foster care, homeless, or teen parents.

Two details from the rule shape the job:

• It is one-on-one. Section 2552.71(b) says Foster Grandparents “cannot be assigned to roles such as teacher’s aides, group leaders or other similar positions” that would get in the way of a person-to-person relationship.
• There is a written plan for each child. The site gives you a written assignment plan that names the child, what you will do, and the goals for the child (2552.72).

AmeriCorps’ Foster Grandparent page gives examples: helping students with schoolwork, caring for premature babies or children with disabilities, and mentoring teenagers and young mothers.

Senior Companions: Helping Older Adults Stay Home

Under 45 CFR 2551.81, Senior Companions “serve only adults, primarily older adults, who have one or more physical, emotional, or mental health limitations and are in need of assistance to achieve and maintain their highest level of independent living.”

AmeriCorps’ Senior Companion page describes help with daily tasks “such as shopping or paying bills,” and giving family caregivers a break. The rule also says what you will not do: Senior Companions “shall not provide services such as those performed by medical personnel, services to large numbers of clients, custodial services, administrative support services” (2551.71(b)). You are a companion, not a nurse or a home health aide.

Experienced Senior Companions can also become volunteer leaders who help train newer volunteers, and they are paid the same stipend rate for those extra hours (2551.73).

Who Can Join: The Checklist

The rules for both programs are the same (2552.41 and 2551.41):

• You are 55 or older. There is no upper age limit in the rule.
• No degree or work history is required. The rule says eligibility “shall not be restricted on the basis of formal education, experience,” race, disability, marital status and other factors.
• You pass the background check. Anyone on a state sex offender registry, or convicted of murder, cannot serve (2552.42 and 2551.42).
• For the stipend only: your income is under the line in the next section.
• You can get to the site. The program helps with transportation costs, but travel from your home to your assignment is not paid stipend time.

The Income Test for 2026

To be paid the stipend, your yearly income “after deducting allowable medical expenses” must not be above 200 percent of the poverty line (2552.43 and 2551.43). Only your income and your spouse’s income, if your spouse lives with you, count.

Using HHS’s 2026 poverty guidelines, here is our math:

Household	48 states and DC	Alaska	Hawaii
Just you	$31,920 a year (about $2,660 a month)	$39,900	$36,720
You and your spouse	$43,280 a year (about $3,607 a month)	$54,100	$49,780

Sponsors use AmeriCorps’ own yearly income table, which may switch to new numbers on a different date. Ask the program which table it is using.

What Counts, and What Doesn’t

This is where these programs differ from most others. Under 45 CFR 2552.44 and 2551.44:

Counts: wages, self-employment profit, Social Security retirement, unemployment, pensions, annuity and 401(k) payments, interest, dividends and net rent.

Does not count:

• “Social Security Disability or any type of disability payment”
• “Regular payments for public assistance including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)”
• Money you take out of savings, tax refunds, gifts, and one-time insurance payments
• Food or rent you receive instead of wages

Since October 1, 2024, the value of housing, food and clothing that relatives give you no longer counts either, according to AmeriCorps’ 2024 rule.

Example. A single 67-year-old with $2,400 a month in Social Security retirement has $28,800 a year — under the $31,920 line. A 60-year-old who gets the same $2,400 a month from Social Security Disability counts $0 for this test.

Medical Costs Lower Your Number

You can subtract out-of-pocket costs for health insurance premiums, health care and medicine for you and your spouse that no one else pays — up to half of the income guideline (2552.43(c)). For one person in the 48 states that cap is $15,960. Medicare premiums you pay yourself are health insurance premiums.

Once You Are In, There Is a Cushion

You do not lose the stipend the moment your income ticks up. Once enrolled, you stay eligible “so long as” your income does not go over the guideline “by 20 percent” (2552.43(e)). By our math, that is $38,304 for one person and $51,936 for a couple in the 48 states in 2026.

People with income at or below 100% of the poverty line get “special consideration” when programs pick new volunteers (2552.43(d)).

The Stipend: What It Pays and What It Covers

AmeriCorps sets one national hourly rate. Its 2024 rule says AmeriCorps “establishes the stipend rate annually through the Notice of Funding Opportunity; currently, the stipend rate is $4.00 per service hour,” and its FY 2024 Foster Grandparent funding notice uses “1,044 hours x $4.00 per hour.” The law, 42 U.S.C. 5011(d), says it “shall not be less than $3.00 per hour.” We did not find a newer published rate, so ask your local program.

What changed in 2024: a sponsor may now pay more than the AmeriCorps rate, using its own non-AmeriCorps money (2551.92(e)). Two programs in the same state can pay different amounts.

Which hours are paid (2552.46 and 2552.52):

• Time with your assigned child or client
• Earned leave and some administrative leave
• Official project events and training
• Travel between assignments, and meal time if it is part of your schedule

Not paid: travel from your home to your first assignment.

Other help the rule lists: accident insurance, personal liability insurance and excess auto liability insurance; help with transportation costs; possibly help with meals; a yearly physical exam or help paying for one (“may be provided”); and recognition events.

A rough example. At $4.00 an hour, 20 hours a week is $80 a week, with no taxes taken out. At 1,044 hours a year (AmeriCorps’ budget unit), that is $4,176. Your program’s hours and rate may differ.

Will It Affect Your Other Benefits or Taxes?

The rules are unusually direct:

• Benefits: cost reimbursements and benefits “do not reduce or eliminate the level of, or eligibility for, assistance or services” you receive “under any governmental program” (2552.47 and 2551.47). The law, 42 U.S.C. 5058, says the same for “public assistance” and similar benefits.
• Taxes: IRS Publication 525 tells you not to include these amounts in your income, and lists the Foster Grandparent Program and the Senior Companion Program by name.
• Not a job: you are a volunteer, not an employee of the sponsor, the site, AmeriCorps or the government (2552.45).

If a benefits office asks about the stipend, tell them, and point them to 45 CFR 2552.47 or 2551.47.

Where the Programs Are: State by State

We read all 307 pages of AmeriCorps’ Seniors Pathfinder on October 19, 2026, and counted each program listing once. “Sponsors” are the local agencies that run the program; each serves the counties named in its listing.

State	Foster Grandparent sponsors	Senior Companion sponsors
Alabama	6	3
Alaska	1	1
Arizona	2	1
Arkansas	5	1
California	10	13
Colorado	2	2
Connecticut	3	2
Delaware	1	1
District of Columbia	1	1
Florida	9	9
Georgia	8	6
Hawaii	1	0
Idaho	2	2
Illinois	9	4
Indiana	7	2
Iowa	3	2
Kansas	7	2
Kentucky	10	5
Louisiana	9	4
Maine	2	2
Maryland	4	2
Massachusetts	4	3
Michigan	18	14
Minnesota	3	1
Mississippi	5	3
Missouri	5	3
Montana	3	2
Nebraska	5	1
Nevada	2	2
New Hampshire	1	1
New Jersey	4	2
New Mexico	15	15
New York	13	6
North Carolina	11	6
North Dakota	2	0
Ohio	7	7
Oklahoma	2	2
Oregon	4	2
Pennsylvania	8	4
Puerto Rico	3	5
Rhode Island	3	1
South Carolina	5	4
South Dakota	0	1
Tennessee	9	2
Texas	11	9
Utah	6	4
Vermont	1	1
Virginia	2	2
Washington	1	3
West Virginia	4	1
Wisconsin	8	1
Wyoming	3	1
Total	266	171

What the count shows:

• Foster Grandparent sponsors are listed in every state except South Dakota, plus DC and Puerto Rico.
• Senior Companion sponsors are listed in every state except Hawaii and North Dakota, plus DC and Puerto Rico.
• In many states there are only one or two sponsors, so the program may not cover your county. Check the counties in each listing before you call.
• The Pathfinder also lists RSVP, a third AmeriCorps Seniors program. The 2024 rule says stipends are for “SCP and FGP (but not RSVP).”

How to Apply

1. Search the Pathfinder. Pick your state and county. Each listing shows the sponsor, the program type, the counties served, and a phone number or email.
2. Call or email the sponsor. There is no national application. Each sponsor enrolls its own volunteers.
3. Ask these questions:
   • Do you have openings, and how many hours a week do your volunteers serve?
   • What is your stipend rate per hour today? Do you add to the AmeriCorps rate?
   • Which income table are you using, and what papers do you need to check my income?
   • Do you help with mileage or bus fare, meals, and a yearly physical?
   • Where would I serve — which schools, sites or neighborhoods?
4. Bring income papers. Your Social Security award letter, pension statements, and your spouse’s if you live together. Bring receipts for medical costs you pay, because they can lower your counted income.
5. Expect a background check and an orientation before your first assignment.

Not sure which program? Your local Area Agency on Aging often knows the sponsors in your area.

If These Programs Are Not the Right Fit

• You want a paid job, not volunteering. SCSEP pays at least minimum wage for about 20 hours a week of job training, with a lower income line (125% of poverty).
• You are already raising a grandchild. See help for grandparents raising grandchildren.
• Money is tight right now. Check whether you qualify for SSI or SNAP — and remember the stipend does not count against them under the rules above.
• You want to see everything you might get. NCOA’s BenefitsCheckUp is a free screening tool for people 60 and older.
• You don’t know where to start. Dial 2-1-1; our 211 guide explains what that call can do.

How We Checked This

We read every source below on October 19, 2026.

• Program rules come from 45 CFR part 2552 (Foster Grandparents) and part 2551 (Senior Companions), pulled from eCFR’s versioner API for the October 6, 2026 issue of title 45.
• The stipend rate and 2024 changes come from AmeriCorps’ final rule at 89 FR 70536 and the FY 2024 Foster Grandparent funding notice on Grants.gov.
• The law comes from 42 U.S.C. 5011 and 5058 (2024 edition, GovInfo).
• Tax treatment comes from IRS Publication 525 (2025 edition, updated April 30, 2026).
• Income lines are our math: 200% (and 240% for the stay-enrolled cushion) of HHS’s 2026 poverty guidelines.
• The state table is our count. The Pathfinder’s 307 pages held 3,682 listing entries, but most listings appear several times; after removing exact repeats we had 862 listings. We counted each sponsor once per state and program.

Things we found that you won’t see on the program pages:

1. AmeriCorps’ own pages don’t give the stipend amount or the income line. They say only that “Some programs offer a modest stipend to qualified, low-income volunteers.” The $4.00 rate and the 200% rule are in the 2024 rule, the funding notice, and the regulations.
2. Disability income doesn’t count, but retirement income does. A person on Social Security Disability and a person on Social Security retirement with the same check are treated very differently by 2552.44 and 2551.44.
3. The minimum is 5 hours a week, not 15 or 20. Section 2552.51 sets “a minimum of 5 hours per week.” Sponsors may set their own schedules within the 5-to-40-hour range.
4. “Health insurance” is not in the rule. AmeriCorps’ benefits page says “Most programs offer supplemental health insurance,” while the program pages and the regulations list accident, personal liability and excess auto liability insurance. Ask the sponsor exactly what coverage it gives.
5. Sponsors can now pay more than AmeriCorps’ rate — since the 2024 rule took effect on October 1, 2024 — but only from non-AmeriCorps money.

What we could not verify. We did not find a stipend rate published after 2024, or AmeriCorps’ own 2026 income table. We did not call any sponsor, so we can’t tell you which programs have openings, what each pays today, or what papers each asks for. The Pathfinder lists current opportunities; a program that is not listed may still exist. The “143,000 Americans” figure is AmeriCorps’ and covers all AmeriCorps Seniors programs, including RSVP.

The Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion Programs are federal programs funded by AmeriCorps and run by local sponsors. The rules above are federal and apply in every state for 2026; local schedules and stipend amounts vary by sponsor.

This is general information, not legal or financial advice.