let's break this down between 2020 and 2021 tax return
I will assume she was not in school as that complicates the response.
1) in 2020, if her income was greater than $4200, you could not claim her. Even if she made $4200 on January 2 and moved to live with you on January 3 and didn't work again the rest of the year, you still can't claim her. There is no exception. When she filed her 2020 tax return, any stimulus due her from the 1st two stimulus payments would be shown on Line 30 of Form 1040. You can not get the 1st two stimulus payments on your tax return for her since you can't claim her.
2) in 2021, as long as her income was less than $4300 and you provided over 50% of her support, you can claim her. You should see the $1400 for the stimulus on Line 30 (assuming you didn't receive it in 2021for her, which is unlikely if you did not claim her in 2020). But again, if she received more than $4300 in 2021 (including unemployment), you can't claim her, but when she files her own taxes, she'll get any missing stimulus money via Line 30 Form 1040.
let's start there....does that bring some clarity to the situation, Please provide her age as of 12/31/21 and whether she was a full time student in either year as that might hange my response
