How to Become a Foster Parent in Sacramento, California

To become a foster parent in Sacramento, you go through California’s Resource Family Approval process, run locally by Sacramento County’s Department of Child, Family and Adult Services. The process combines foster, adoptive, and guardianship approval into one standard, and most applicants move from orientation to approval in roughly 90 days.¹ You submit an application, clear a background check, complete 12 hours of training, pass a home safety inspection, and sit for a family evaluation.

Who Qualifies

Sacramento County’s list is short. You must be at least 18, live in Sacramento County, and be in good health. Every adult in the home has to agree to a criminal background check. Your household income needs to cover your existing expenses before any foster care payment is considered, and you need adequate bedroom space and a home that can pass a safety inspection.²

The income rule is less rigid than it sounds. The county is not looking for high earners. It wants to see that you can pay your own bills without leaning on foster care reimbursement. You do not need to own your home. The program does not exclude anyone based on marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.²

Start With Orientation

The first step is attending an orientation hosted by the county’s Resource Family Approval unit. The session walks through what foster parenting involves, the children in care, and the full approval timeline. Dates are posted on the county’s RFA webpage, and you can begin your application online through the county’s digital portal at the same time.²

To talk to someone directly, the CPS Resource Family Approval office is at 3701 Branch Center Road, Sacramento, CA 95827, and the phone number is (916) 875-5543. You can also apply through a private Foster Family Agency licensed in California rather than going through the county directly.

Paperwork and Background Checks

The application is form RFA-01A, available through the California Department of Social Services. Each applicant in the household also completes a Criminal Record Statement on form RFA-01B.³ You will provide residential history, employment history, and any prior involvement with child welfare or the justice system.

The background check is the piece that takes longest and is least within your control. You go to a Live Scan location for fingerprinting, which feeds into both the California Department of Justice and FBI databases. Federal law under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act also requires a check of child abuse and neglect registries in every state where you or any other adult in your home has lived during the past five years.⁴

You will also need a health screening confirming you are physically capable of caring for a child, and personal references from people outside your family.

Convictions That Disqualify You

Some felony convictions permanently bar approval with no possibility of an exemption: sexual assault, crimes against children (including child pornography), lewd or lascivious acts involving a child, torture, arson, and felony convictions for child abuse or neglect, spousal abuse, or any violent crime such as rape or homicide.⁴

A felony conviction for physical assault, battery, or a drug- or alcohol-related offense within the last five years is also disqualifying, though older convictions of that type may be eligible for an exemption. For other criminal history, you may apply for a criminal record exemption through the county, which reviews the nature of the offense, how long ago it occurred, and evidence of rehabilitation.⁴

Pre-Approval Training

California law requires a minimum of 12 hours of pre-approval training before you can be approved.¹ Sacramento County provides it directly or through a partnered Foster Family Agency. Required topics include:

How abuse, neglect, grief, and loss affect a child’s behavior and development.
Positive discipline strategies without corporal punishment, and the role of self-esteem in a child’s progress.
How to access medical, mental health, and educational services for children in care.
A resource family’s duty to protect children from discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other protected characteristic.
Cultural competency across diverse ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds, and for children who identify as LGBTQ+.
Working cooperatively with the child welfare agency, the child’s birth family, and other service providers on the case plan.

Training also covers the “reasonable and prudent parent” standard: you are expected to make the same everyday decisions a typical parent would, such as allowing a sleepover or a sports team, without agency approval for every activity.¹ Standard resource family approval does not require CPR certification. (If you later care for a child with intensive behavioral or medical needs through Intensive Services Foster Care, that track has a separate 40-hour training that includes CPR and first aid.)

The Home Safety Inspection

A social worker inspects your home using form RFA-03 to confirm it meets California’s health and safety standards. This is not a white-glove cleanliness test. The inspector is checking for genuine hazards and livable conditions:

Commercially manufactured, functioning smoke and carbon monoxide detectors installed near every sleeping area.
Medicines, cleaning products, and disinfectants stored where small children cannot access them.
Each child in an individual bed with clean linens. No more than four children of the same gender per bedroom. Bunk beds limited to two tiers with upper railings, and not used for children under six. Infants need a crib or bassinet that meets current safety standards, with no drop-side cribs.
Swimming pools, spas, and other bodies of water made inaccessible to children under 10 and to any children with developmental or physical disabilities, using enclosures, covers, or alarms.

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Most homes need only minor adjustments to pass. If the inspector flags something, you will typically get a chance to fix it and schedule a follow-up visit rather than face an outright denial.

The Family Evaluation

The family evaluation assesses you. A social worker conducts in-depth interviews covering your personal history, childhood, relationships, parenting experience, and motivations for fostering. California’s RFA process combines what used to be several separate evaluations into a single comprehensive family assessment.⁶ The interviewer is looking for emotional stability, realistic expectations about foster care, and the capacity to support a child who may be dealing with trauma.

From application to decision, the process is designed to take about 90 days. Background check delays or scheduling issues can stretch it longer. At the end, the agency produces a written Family Evaluation report and issues an approval or denial. Approval means you are officially a Resource Family and can begin receiving placements.¹

If You Are Denied

A denial comes with a written Notice of Action explaining the reasons. You have 25 days from the date the notice is served to file an appeal, with an additional five days if the notice was sent by mail. Your appeal hearing must begin within 90 days of your filing.⁷ The specific basis for denial listed on the Notice of Action determines what evidence you will need to present.

After Approval: Matching and Placement

Once approved, you enter a matching pool. The county does not simply assign you the next child who needs a home. Placement workers look for alignment between a child’s specific needs and your household’s strengths, location, and capacity. When a potential match is identified, you will get a placement call with available information about the child’s background, medical needs, behavioral considerations, and any ongoing family court proceedings.

You can accept or decline any placement call. Saying no does not remove you from the pool or count against you. Foster parents who accept placements they are not equipped to handle often end up disrupting the placement later, which is far worse for the child.

After a child is placed with you, a social worker will visit regularly to check on the child’s adjustment and make sure you have the support you need. Federal law requires caseworker visits at least monthly for children in out-of-home care, and the social worker remains your primary point of contact for school enrollment, medical appointments, court dates, and services.

Monthly Reimbursement Rates

California pays resource families a monthly rate based on the Level of Care Rate Determination Protocol, which scores each child’s needs across five domains: physical, behavioral and emotional, health, educational, and permanency. For fiscal year 2025–2026, monthly rates for resource family homes are:

Basic Level: $1,301
Level of Care 2: $1,447
Level of Care 3: $1,596
Level of Care 4: $1,741

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Children placed through the Intensive Services Foster Care program receive a higher rate, which in prior years has exceeded $3,100 per month.⁹ These payments are intended to cover food, clothing, shelter, personal items, and daily supervision for the child. They are not income to the foster parent and are generally not taxable.

Ongoing Training and Respite

Approval does not end your training. California requires every approved resource family to complete at least eight hours of additional training each year, due on the anniversary of your approval date. A portion of those hours must come from the same topic areas covered in pre-approval training.¹

Resource families can also access respite care, which lets another approved caregiver look after the child for a short period so you can take a break. Availability depends on the county and the placement type, so ask your social worker about Sacramento County’s current respite policy once you are approved.

Taking Time Off Work for a Placement

If you work for an employer with 50 or more employees within 75 miles of your worksite, you may be eligible for unpaid leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act when a child is placed in your home. The FMLA provides up to 12 workweeks of leave for the placement of a child for foster care and for bonding with that child.¹⁰ You need 12 months of employment with that employer and 1,250 hours worked during that period to qualify.

You can also use FMLA leave before the actual placement for activities directly related to the process, like court hearings, counseling sessions, or required medical examinations. Your entitlement to placement and bonding leave expires 12 months after the child arrives, and intermittent leave for bonding requires your employer’s agreement.¹¹ You generally need to give 30 days’ notice, or as much notice as practical if the placement happens on short notice.

1
California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 16519.5
2
Sacramento County Department of Child, Family and Adult Services. Resource Family Approval
3
California Department of Social Services. Resource Family Application RFA 01A
4
Children’s Bureau. Background Checks for Prospective Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Caregivers – California
5
California Department of Social Services. Resource Family Home Health and Safety Assessment RFA 03
6
California Department of Social Services. Resource Family Approval Program
7
California Department of Social Services. Resource Family Approval Due Process
8
California Department of Social Services. All County Letter 25-45 – Foster Care Rates Fiscal Year 2025-2026
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California Department of Social Services. Level of Care and Rates Information
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2612 – Leave Requirement
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Taking Leave from Work for Birth, Placement, and Bonding with a Child under the FMLA