How to Become a Foster Parent in California: Training and Pay

To become a foster parent in California, you go through a single process called Resource Family Approval (RFA), which covers foster care, adoption, and relative caregiving under one path. You must be at least 18, pass a background check, complete 12 hours of training, and have your home assessed for safety by a social worker from your county child welfare agency or a licensed foster family agency. Start to finish, most applicants can expect roughly 90 to 120 days.

Who Qualifies

California law defines a resource family as an individual or family that passes both a home environment assessment and a permanency assessment through a county child welfare agency or a licensed foster family agency (FFA). You need to show an understanding of children who have experienced abuse or neglect, effective parenting skills, and enough financial stability to keep your household running.¹

The basic requirements are short:

You must be at least 18 years old.
You must live in California.
Every adult in the home needs a health screening from a licensed professional dated within 180 days of application, plus a tuberculosis screening or test within the past year.²
There is no minimum income. You need to show you can support yourself and provide a safe home. If the monthly foster care payment itself will help with additional household expenses from the placement, that alone cannot be grounds for denial.¹

Marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, whether you own or rent, and whether you already have children do not disqualify you. Single adults become resource families every day.

Where to Apply and What to Gather

You start by contacting either your county’s child welfare agency or a licensed FFA. Both use the same RFA process, and both can walk you through the application.³

The application packet collects personal details about you and every household member. You will need proof of identity, consent for a DMV report on each adult who may transport children, verification of employment and income, and documentation that you own or rent your home. You also need three personal references who can speak to your character and ability to care for a child safely; if you cannot provide three, you must document why.²

Once a child is placed in a home on an emergency or other qualifying basis, the agency has 120 calendar days to complete the RFA and either approve or deny the application. Applicants without an emergency placement generally see a similar timeline, though document gathering or scheduling delays can stretch it.

Background Checks and Disqualifying Convictions

Every prospective resource family goes through a multi-layered background check. Federal law under the Adam Walsh Act requires fingerprint-based criminal record checks through national crime databases before any foster or adoptive placement can be finalized.⁴

In California, you submit fingerprints through LiveScan, and the Department of Justice runs the state and federal criminal history checks. The agency also checks California’s Child Abuse Central Index (CACI). If any adult in your household has lived outside California within the past five years, a separate check of that state’s child abuse and neglect registry is required.⁵

Some convictions are permanent bars. Felonies for child abuse or neglect, crimes against children (including child pornography), sexual assault, and homicide will disqualify you. So will felony convictions for physical assault, battery, or drug offenses within the past five years, though older drug or assault convictions may not automatically bar you. California law also lists non-exemptible crimes, including robbery, sexual battery, elder abuse, arson, and kidnapping, for which the state cannot grant an exemption.⁵

LiveScan carries processing fees. The combined cost for a foster care background check runs about $62 per person, covering the state criminal record fee, federal criminal record fee, and CACI check.⁶ The LiveScan operator may add a separate rolling fee. Some counties absorb these costs, so ask your agency before paying out of pocket.

The 12 Hours of Pre-Approval Training

Before you can be approved, California requires 12 hours of pre-approval training. Topics include child development, trauma-informed care, the effects of abuse and neglect, cooperating with birth families and social workers, and positive discipline strategies. Your county or FFA arranges the training, and many offer evenings or weekends to fit around work.³

After approval, you must complete at least 8 hours of training each year to maintain resource family status. Some counties require more, so confirm with your agency.⁷

The Home Assessment

A social worker will visit your home for a safety inspection and a broader psychosocial assessment. The safety inspection is a physical walkthrough using a standardized checklist. The psychosocial assessment involves interviews about your childhood experiences, adult relationships, parenting approach, and any history of substance use.²

The home itself does not have to be large or expensive. The inspection focuses on practical safety: working smoke detectors, accessible telephones, locked storage for firearms and medications, fencing or covers for pools and spas, and general cleanliness and repair.⁸

Sleeping arrangements follow specific rules:

No more than four children of the same gender or gender identity may share a bedroom. Up to four children under age 8 may share regardless of gender.
Every child needs their own bed with clean linens. Bunk beds cannot be more than two tiers high and are not allowed for children under 6.
No more than two infants may share a bedroom with the resource family. Infants need a crib or bassinet meeting current safety standards; no drop-side cribs.
A room used as a passageway or primarily for another purpose does not qualify as a bedroom.

What You’ll Be Paid Once Approved

Approved resource families receive a monthly payment to help cover the cost of caring for a child. It is a reimbursement for the child’s expenses, not a salary. California sets statewide rates through a Level of Care (LOC) system that accounts for each child’s assessed needs.

For fiscal year 2025–2026, the monthly home-based foster care rates are:

LOC Basic: $1,301
LOC 2: $1,447
LOC 3: $1,596
LOC 4: $1,741

These rates include a 3.42% California Necessities Index increase that took effect July 1, 2025. Most children entering care are initially placed at the basic level. Children with significant emotional, behavioral, or medical needs are assessed at a higher LOC, which raises the monthly rate. Each county administers its own rate structure within this framework, subject to state approval.⁹

After a Child Is Placed

Approval is closer to the beginning than the end. You will collaborate with social workers, attend court hearings when asked, support the child’s relationship with birth family members when it is safe to do so, and advocate for the child’s educational and therapeutic needs. Social workers will visit regularly after placement. These visits are also your chance to raise concerns, request more support, or ask whether the current LOC assessment still fits the child; if needs change, the LOC can be reassessed and the payment adjusted.

Every child in foster care is automatically eligible for Medi-Cal, which covers medical, dental, and mental health services. Coverage is not based on the foster family’s income; the child qualifies by being in care.¹⁰

Respite care is available when you need a temporary break. A respite placement allows another approved caregiver to look after the child for up to 72 hours per session. Contact your child’s social worker well in advance so there is time to arrange a suitable family.⁷

California’s foster care system prioritizes family reunification whenever it is safe. While reunification is the goal, the agency also builds a concurrent permanency plan in case it does not succeed, which may include adoption, legal guardianship, or placement with a fit and willing relative.¹¹

If a Placement Involves a Native American Child

If a child is a member of, or eligible for membership in, a federally recognized tribe, the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) overrides the standard matching process. Foster placements must follow this priority order unless there is good cause otherwise: a member of the child’s extended family; a foster home licensed or approved by the child’s tribe; an Indian foster home licensed by any authorized licensing authority; or a facility approved by an Indian tribe or run by an Indian organization with a suitable program. A tribe can set its own preference order by resolution, and the agency must follow it.¹² If you foster an ICWA child, expect the agency and the child’s tribe to be actively involved in case planning and any permanency decisions.

The children who enter your home have been through significant disruption. The training you complete before and after approval is not a formality; it equips you for real situations like a child testing boundaries in the first weeks, grief over separation from siblings, or behavior rooted in trauma. Families who do best in this system tend to be the ones who use every support resource available to them.

1
California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 16519.5
2
California Department of Social Services. Resource Family Approval Program Written Directives
3
California Department of Social Services. Resource Family Approval Program
4
GovInfo. Background Checks for Prospective Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Caregivers
5
California Department of Social Services. Background Check Process
6
California Department of Justice. Applicant Fingerprint Processing Fees
7
California Department of Social Services. Caregiver FAQs
8
California Department of Social Services. Checklist of Health and Safety Standards for Approval of Family Caregiver Home
9
California Department of Social Services. Foster Family Home Rates
10
California Department of Social Services. Overview of Medi-Cal for Child Welfare Agencies
11
California Department of Social Services. Family Reunification and Pathways to Permanency
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 25 USC 1915 – Placement of Indian Children