Topeka ? Grandparents who are raising their grandchildren could receive financial help from the state under a bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday.

Sent to the House on a 34-6 vote, the measure is intended to increase the likelihood that children who might be placed in foster care will be raised by their grandparents instead.

The legislation directs the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services to create a new program, “Grandparents as Foster Parents,” by April 2005. The state would pay participating grandparents at least 75 percent of what they would receive had they accepted unrelated foster children.

Eligible grandparents would have a household income less than 130 percent of the federal poverty level, or $19,838 for a family of three.

Legislators contemplate setting aside $250,000 for the program’s first three months, then $1 million annually after that.