Emergency Caregiver Funding and Support

Kinship caregivers should receive the financial assistance and support necessary for them to provide care for the child. Support includes regular payments to provide the care and support the child needs as well as items necessary to meet emergency placement needs and resource family approval standards. Kinship caregivers should also receive information about other financial support, programs and services that are available to help them care for the child and any assistance necessary to ensure that they can access financial support, programs and services in a timely manner.

In order to make and effectively support kinship placements:

• Provide the caregiver with information about state or county financial assistance programs, including eligibility criteria, nature and amount of assistance and any ongoing responsibilities the caregiver will have to ensure assistance continues.
• Provide the caregiver with information about additional resources, such as provide transportation and help the caregiver to access these resources.
• If a lack of resources, including, but not limited to, physical items such as cribs and car seats is preventing an emergency placement of a child with a relative, extended family member of an Indian child or non-relative extended family member, explore all the options available through the county, community-based organizations, religious groups and other avenues and assist the proposed caregiver in obtaining the necessary items.

County Funds – Flexible Support

Some counties have used county funds to make an emergency placement possible. Social workers can use these funds to purchase necessities, such as a crib, car seat or smoke detector. Some counties have provided gift cards that the caregiver can use for incidentals or little luxuries like taking the child out to eat. One county reported paying travel and hotel expenses for an out of state relative to come to California to complete the placement process. Generally, the approach in these counties was to ask: What is standing in the way of making this placement and what can we do about it? (“Just get it done.”).

An example of one policy structure is:

• Up to $300 per child, per placement, to be spent at the discretion of the social worker.
• $300 – $500 as approved by case work supervisor.
• $500 – 1000 as approved by Program Manager or Department Director.
• Additional amounts as authorized by the Agency Director in consultation with the Finance Department.

State Funds – Flexible Family Support

In 2022 the California legislature appropriated $50 million in one-time funding, available for expenditure until June 30, 2025. for County Welfare Departments (CWD), County Probation Departments (CPD) and participating Tribes that elect to access the funds to increase home-based family care and provide additional resources to children and youth in foster care and their foster caregivers, including children in emergency placements. These funds can be used to:

• Provide respite care.
• Facilitate participation of the child and caregiver in child and youth enrichment activities.
• Enable or continue a foster child’s relative or nonrelative extended family member connections, which may include a child’s tribe, tribal community or tribal cultural events in the case of an Indian child.
• Facilitate placement with a relative or nonrelative extended family member, or extended family member in the case of an Indian child.
• Other items as specified by CDSS in written instructions or as authorized by the department in response to a request for approval by the county.

Emergency Caregiver (EC) Funding

Pursuant to WIC section 11461.36, caregivers who received placement of a child prior to approval as resource family or prior to approval as a TAH are eligible for emergency caregiver (EC) funding if the child was:

• Placed with a relative, NREFM or extended family member of an Indian child on an emergency basis pursuant to WIC 309, 319, 361.45 or 727.05 and the following criteria has been met:
  • The child resides in California.
  • An assessment pursuant to WIC 361.4 has been completed.
  • An EA-1 has been submitted.
  • An RFA application has been submitted or the Tribe has provided verification the caregiver has initiated the TAH process.
• Or placed with a resource family applicant (related or nonrelated) based on a compelling reason pursuant to WIC 16519.5(e).
• To be eligible for a compelling reason placement the resource family applicant must have completed the home environment assessment as described in WIC 16519.5(d)(2).

The beginning date of the emergency caregiver funding should be retroactively dated back to the date of placement into the home once the caregiver has met the eligibility criteria described above.

The EC funding is available for 120 days from the date of placement and up to 365 days with documented good cause for the delay in completing the Resource Family Approval or TAH process.

Approved Relative Caregiver (ARC) Funding

Approved Relative Caregiver (ARC) funding is available on behalf of children placed with relative caregivers who are not eligible for either Emergency Caregiver (EC) Funding or Aid to Families with Dependent Children – Foster Care (AFDC-FC).

This includes children and non-minor dependents who are:

• Placed with a relative who has been granted child specific approval as a resource family and has a criminal record exemption for a crime that is not federally exemptible.
• Placed with a relative by the juvenile court when the relative has been denied Resource Family Approval.

The beginning date of aid is the date of either 1) the denial of the RFA or 2) the child specific aid is granted.

Aid to Families with Dependent Children – Fosters Care (AFDC-FC)

AFDC-FC is available for all federally eligible children in a placement who meet all the Title IV-E Federal requirements, including federal criminal background criteria.

Because state-only (non-federal) AFDC-FC benefits are not available for children placed with relatives, children must meet the federal (IV-E) criteria when they are placed with relatives in order to qualify for AFDC-FC.