Our goal
We know it’s important to have relatives in a youth and family’s life. Relatives keep foster children connected to their family and provide support.
If a youth is removed from their family home, the social worker tries to find family members as soon as possible. Keeping the youth with family is our first choice.
How relatives can help
Here are some ways you can help:
- Have the youth live with you.
- Take the child to school or other activities.
- Care for the children while parents attend meetings.
- Call, text and visit the youth.
- Invite the youth to your home for holidays and other celebrations.
- Remember the child’s birthday, graduation, or other special days.
- Help find other relatives and family friends who may be able to help with child and family. They can be in or out of state.
The agency holds Child and Family Team Meetings to make shared decisions about where the child will live, visitation, and services. We encourage you to attend these meetings to work together for the child.
What to do
If you want to help the child or family, contact the child’s social worker or their supervisor. If you do not know the social worker’s name or number, call the KidsLine at 877-792-KIDS (5437).
Steps to have the child live with you
We prefer to let a child stay with relatives while the parents get services to reunify with the child.
If you want the child(ren) to live with you, we will review your ability to be a relative caregiver.
Who is a relative
By law, a relative is an adult who is related to the child by blood, adoption, or affinity within the fifth degree of kinship. This includes:
- Stepparents
- Stepsiblings
- Relatives the child knows as “great,” “great-great,” or “grand”
- The spouse of any of these people, even if the marriage has ended.
How we decide
When we review if you can be a caregiver, the social worker must consider whether:
- You can fulfill the child’s reunification or permanent plan requirements.
- You created and kept a relationship with the child.
We will review you under the Resource Family Approval Program (ca.gov).
Requirements
Some of the requirements include:
- Statewide and national criminal record checks for all adults living in the home
- Child abuse record checks for all adults in the home
- The home must meet health and safety standards
- You must show you can care for the child both short term and long term
- You must agree to make sure the child’s personal rights are protected
Someone in home with criminal record
If someone in your home has a criminal background, the child still may be able to live with you. It depends on the crimes. We review each case. The Resource Family Approval social worker will give you detailed options based on the findings.
Placement during the approval process
A child may be able to live with you before Resource Family Approval is final. This can happen in two ways:
- Meet emergency placement requirements.
- Court approves your home for placement.
The emergency placement requirements are:
- An in-home inspection to evaluate the safety of the home and your ability to care for the child’s needs
- A state-level criminal records check for all adults living in the home
- A check of prior child abuse or neglect allegations for all adults in the home
If a child lives with you in an emergency placement, you must still go through the Resource Family Approval process.
Placement after the approval process
You and other relatives may go through the approval process at the same time. The social worker, with input from the family, can then choose from interested relatives.
We consider many things when decide where to place the child. The home should meet the child’s needs and have as little change as possible.
When we choose a placement, we look at how far the child is to:
- Their current school
- Their parents, siblings, friends, other relatives
- Programs or activities the child currently has
We also assess:
- How willing you are to work with the social worker and birth parent on reunification.
- How able and willing you are to adopt or take guardianship of the child if reunification does not happen.
Relatives out of state
Sometimes a child may be placed with a relative living out of state. If you are out of state, your state will need to approve your home. The child’s social worker can discuss this option with you.
If the child goes to live with you outside of California, you can help stay in touch with their family through visits, phone calls, email, social media, and regular mail.
Siblings
Body text: When a child is taken into protective custody, the social worker will try hard to place the child with their brothers or sisters in the same home. In some cases, siblings cannot be in the same home. You can help make sibling visits possible, so they stay in touch with one another.
Visits with the parents
The social worker and the court will determine how often the child and parent can visit and under what circumstances. You can help make sure the visits are safe and positive. You can:
- Supervise visits.
- Provide a safe place for the visit.
- Take parents and children to and from visits.
- Tell the social worker what was good or bad about the visit.
Keeping children connected to their cultural background
A child needs to be kept connected to their cultural background. This can include:
- Race and ethnicity
- Sexual orientation
- Gender identify or expression
- Religious beliefs
- Disability
- Other social identity
Tell the social worker about important family traditions, values or beliefs, holiday celebrations, or other information about the child’s history.
American Indian heritage
The social worker must ask all available relatives about a child’s American Indian heritage and tribal membership. It is important to help an Indian child create and keep a political, cultural, and social relationship with their tribe and tribal community. The child may qualify for services from the tribe.
Please tell the social worker if you or other relatives know about anyone in the child’s family being a member of, or eligible for membership in, a federally recognized tribe.
How to give information about the child to the court
You may give information to the court about:
- The child
- Your relationship with the child
- Ways you or other relatives can help the family
Fill out form JV 285 Relative Information. Submit it to the court clerk at the Juvenile Court. Parents, social workers and attorneys will see what you write.
Financial and social support for caregivers
The child’s social worker will help you be a caregiver. They will:
- Provide help and guidance to fulfill your responsibilities as a caregiver
- Help you get financial support
- Get health and dental care for the child
- Give information on what to do and who to call if you have problems
- Contact you and the child in-person at least once a month
- If eligible, get you money each year for the child’s clothes
- Help with emergencies
- Help arrange parent-child visits, counseling, and other services the child may need
If the child lives with you and is unable to be reunified with their parent(s), you may choose to adopt or become a guardian. You may get financial and medical help through:
