California Senate Bill 354 reshaped the rules for relative foster care placement, taking effect January 1, 2022. The law widened who qualifies for criminal record exemptions, gave juvenile courts authority to place a child with a relative before approvals are complete, and required counties to help family caregivers obtain basic supplies like cribs and car seats. The goal is simple: when a safe family home is available, paperwork should not keep a child out of it.
Who Counts as a Relative
Under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 361.3, a relative is any adult connected to the child by blood, adoption, or affinity within the fifth degree of kinship. That reaches grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, stepparents, stepsiblings, great-grandparents, and more distant connections like great-great-aunts or second cousins.1California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 361.3
The definition is wide, but preferential consideration is narrower. Only grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings sit at the front of the line, meaning the social worker must look at them first.1California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 361.3 More distant relatives still qualify for consideration; they just do not get the automatic priority.
SB 354 also strengthened the position of nonrelative extended family members, known as NREFMs. Under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 362.7, an NREFM is an adult with an established familial relationship to the child’s relative or a familial or mentoring relationship with the child directly. A godparent, longtime family friend, or coach who has played a steady role in the child’s life can qualify. The county confirms the relationship through interviews with the parents, the child, or third parties such as teachers or neighbors.2California Legislative Information. California Code WIC 362.7
The 30-Day Relative Search
When a child is removed from a parent, the assigned social worker has 30 days under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 309 to identify and locate the child’s grandparents, adult siblings, parents of a sibling who has legal custody of that sibling, and all other adult relatives, including anyone the parents name.3California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 309
Each located relative receives written notice that the child has been removed, along with the available options: providing care during reunification, becoming an approved resource family, pursuing legal guardianship, or exploring adoption. The notice also describes financial assistance programs such as Kin-GAP and CalWORKs.3California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 309 A relative who does not respond can lose the chance at placement, so acting quickly after this notice arrives matters.
Court-Ordered Placement Before Approvals Finish
The biggest practical change in SB 354 is that a juvenile court can now place a child with a relative or NREFM while criminal record exemptions and Resource Family Approval are still pending. Before the law, a willing grandmother with a decades-old misdemeanor could be blocked from taking her grandchild simply because her paperwork had not cleared. Children sat in stranger foster care for weeks or months while safe family homes waited.
Under SB 354, the court can order temporary or ongoing placement after finding that it does not pose a risk to the child’s health and safety, provided the relative and any other adult in the home has no felony conviction within the last five years for child abuse or neglect, spousal abuse, rape, sexual assault, homicide, or any crime against a child, including child pornography.4California State Assembly. SB 354 – Foster Youth: Relative Placement The judge uses independent judgment after reviewing the county’s recommendation, so the court can place a child even when the county hesitates, as long as the facts support it.
SB 354 added one more practical safeguard. If the only thing standing between a child and an emergency placement is a missing crib, car seat, or bed, the county must use reasonable efforts to help the relative obtain those items.5LegiScan. California Code SB 354 A family member should not lose a placement over the cost of a crib.
Criminal Record Exemptions After SB 354
Criminal history has long been the biggest hurdle for relatives. Before SB 354, many older or minor convictions permanently disqualified an applicant no matter how much their life had changed. The law restructured Health and Safety Code Section 1522 to weigh current safety over past mistakes.
Time-Limited Bars
Some serious convictions now block an exemption only within a defined lookback period. Convictions within the last ten years for offenses like assault with intent to commit a sexual crime, child abuse, lewd acts against a child, or elder abuse prevent an exemption during that window. For felony physical assault, battery, or drug- and alcohol-related offenses, the lookback is five years.6California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code HSC 1522 Once the period passes without new offenses, the applicant becomes eligible for an exemption review. Convictions that once meant a permanent no now mean a wait and evidence of rehabilitation.
The Narrow Opening for the Most Serious Offenses
Felony convictions for child abuse or neglect, spousal abuse, crimes against children (including child pornography), rape, sexual assault, and homicide still cannot receive a standard exemption, no matter how long ago they occurred.6California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code HSC 1522
SB 354 did create a narrow exception when a relative seeks placement of one specific child. The Department of Social Services or other approving entity may grant an exemption on finding that the applicant has present good character and the placement would not endanger the child’s health and safety. The exemption attaches only to that child and does not transfer to any other placement.6California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code HSC 1522 This child-specific exemption is one of the law’s most significant expansions.
Infractions No Longer Count
SB 354 removed infractions from criminal record requirements entirely. Traffic tickets, minor code violations, and similar low-level infractions do not trigger the exemption process at all.7California Department of Social Services. All County Letter 22-33 Older drug possession charges and nonviolent misdemeanors that fall outside the lookback windows are far more likely to clear exemption review than they would have before.
Resource Family Approval
Every adult providing a home for a California foster child, relative or not, must complete Resource Family Approval. The process replaced the older patchwork of separate licensing, relative approval, and adoption approval tracks. A child can live in the home on an emergency basis while the RFA is still being processed.
The application runs through the county child welfare agency or probation office. Applicants provide identifying documents, personal references, and financial information. The county runs criminal background checks on every adult in the household and conducts a family evaluation covering motivation, parenting capacity, and ability to meet a child’s needs.8California Department of Social Services. Resource Family Approval Program Each adult submits a health screening form completed by a licensed medical professional.9California Department of Social Services. RFA 07 Health Screening A caseworker inspects the home for health and safety, checking sleeping arrangements, storage of medicines and cleaning products, and locked storage for any firearms.10California Department of Social Services. Resource Family Home Health and Safety Assessment Checklist Applicants also complete required caregiver training hours before or shortly after approval.
As of July 2024, when a child is already placed in the home on an emergency basis, the county has 120 calendar days to approve, deny, or note the withdrawal of the RFA application. The previous deadline was 90 days. The county can extend the timeline for good cause.11Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. Resource Family Approval (RFA) – 0100-520.00
Money for Relative Caregivers
Taking in a child creates immediate costs. California has several support streams depending on the child’s federal eligibility and the caregiver’s approval status.
Children who qualify under federal Title IV-E receive foster care maintenance payments covering food, clothing, shelter, daily supervision, school supplies, personal items, liability insurance, and reasonable travel for family visits. Daily supervision can include childcare costs when the caregiver is working.12Child Welfare Policy Manual. Title IV-E Foster Care Maintenance Payments Program – Allowable Costs For the 2025–2026 fiscal year, California’s basic home-based foster care rate is $1,301 per month per child, with higher rates for children needing greater levels of care. The payment covers the child’s expenses rather than functioning as income for the caregiver.
Children not eligible for federal Title IV-E can still receive support through the Approved Relative Caregiver program, which SB 354 expanded. ARC pays an approved relative a monthly amount equal to the basic foster care rate, so a relative caregiver is not shortchanged compared to an unrelated foster parent.13California Department of Social Services. Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Option Program To qualify, the caregiver must be an approved relative living in California, the child must be under the jurisdiction of a participating county’s juvenile court, and the child must live in California.
Indian Children and Tribal Caregivers
When a child is known or believed to be an Indian child, the 30-day relative search under WIC 309 extends to extended family members as defined by the tribe and federal law. That definition often reaches further than California’s fifth-degree-of-kinship rule.3California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 309
Tribal relative caregivers have access to the same simplified criminal record exemptions and court-ordered placements as other families. For an Indian child, the court may authorize emergency or temporary placement with an extended family member regardless of criminal exemption status or Tribally Approved Home certification, as long as the placement does not endanger the child.7California Department of Social Services. All County Letter 22-33 Tribally approved homes carry their own legal standing, and state agencies must honor tribal authority over caregiver suitability decisions.
If the County Says No
A denied RFA or a refused criminal record exemption can be challenged through an administrative hearing with the California Department of Social Services. The county must provide a written Notice of Action explaining the denial and identifying whether the appeal goes to the State Hearings Division or the Office of Administrative Hearings.
The applicant generally has 25 calendar days from the date the Notice of Action is served to file the appeal, plus an additional five days if the notice was mailed.14California Department of Social Services. Resource Family Approval Due Process Missing the deadline does not necessarily end the matter; an applicant who can show good cause for the delay may still request a hearing. Appeals can be filed online through the CDSS Appeals Management System, by mail using the form on the back of the Notice of Action, or by phone at (800) 743-8525. Because the State Hearings Division often has a backlog, applicants can submit a written request to expedite the hearing, explaining why delay would harm the child or the placement. Given how time-sensitive foster placements are, filing promptly and asking for expedition is almost always worth doing.