Financial Assistance and Level of Care (LOC)

When a child is placed in your home, you will begin receiving a monthly stipend to cover the cost of care for that child. Learn more about resource family funding and other financial assistance

Pre-Approval Funding

If you are currently caring for a child in foster care who was placed with you through an emergency placement or placement on a compelling reason, you are entitled to receive emergency caregiver funding at the basic care rate effective July 1, 2022, the basic rate is $1129.

It is very important that you sign and submit your RFA Application as soon as possible. You will not receive any emergency funding until the signed application form is received.

Emergency caregiver funding is paid retroactively. This means that you will receive the funding for the month you provide care for the child after that month has ended. For example, if you had a child placed into your home during the month of April, you would receive emergency caregiver funding from the month of April and May.

Approved Resource Family Funding

Once you are approved as a resource family and a child is placed with you, you will receive basic foster care funding rate of $1129 a month per child.

Foster care funding is paid retroactively, which means you will receive the funding for the month you provide care for the child after that month has ended. You will receive an amount that is at least equal to the rate increase slightly every July, based on the cost of living.

Level of Care Funding

Beginning April 1, 2021, all home based foster care placements receive a Level of Care (LOC) rate assessment, regardless of their date of entry into foster care. The LOC assessment determines the monthly rate paid to resource parents, based on the care and supervision they provide to children and youth in foster care across the following domains: Physical, Behavioral/ Emotional, Educational and Health. The LOC rates range between:
 

 
If you have concerns regarding the LOC assessment that was completed by the Child Welfare Social Worker for the child in your care, you are encouraged to discuss your concerns with your assigned worker and determine if an LOC  request is needed.  You may also refer to the Notice of Action, which provides instruction on the LOC appeals process. https://www.cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/entres/forms/English/NA403.pdf

Level of Care (LOC) and Specialized Care Increment (SCI)

Additional Funding

Specialized Care Increments (SCIs):

Children who do not qualify for other sources of funding may still qualify for additional funding through the county. Most counties provide additional financial support to families caring for a child with special medical, behavioral, developmental, and/or emotional needs. This kind of funding is called a specialized care increment (SCI).  Every youth who receives an LOC rate determination will also be assessed for an SCI.  Yolo County has an SCI .

Dual Agency Rates: 

Children who are in foster care and are also clients of a Regional Center are eligible for a monthly payment referred to as the “dual agency rate,” even if they are not currently receiving services directly from a Regional Center. The only requirement is that they have been found eligible for services by a Regional Center. Regional centers serve young people with developmental delays and/or disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and autism.   If you are caring for a child who has one of the qualifying conditions, ask your assigned county worker to initiate an assessment for the Dual Agency Rate.
 

 
Dual Agency Rates: 

Monthly dual agency flat rate for children, three (3) years and older, or children under three (3) years with a developmental disability, who are eligible to receive services under the Lanterman Act, and receive AFDC-FC, ARC, Kin-GAP, or AAP benefits.

Monthly dual agency flat rate for children under three (3) years who receive services under California’s Early Start Intervention Services Act, and receive AFDC-FC, ARCor AAP benefits, but have not yet been determined to have a developmental disability.

The State has issued clarification that neither an Individual Program Plan (IPP) nor current receipt of regional center services is required for dual agency rate eligibility. Whether the child or youth has an “active” or “inactive” case with a regional center is irrelevant for dual agency rate eligibility. An eligibility letter or other documentation of eligibility for regional center services issued by a regional center is sufficient to establish eligibility for the rate.
 

 
Expectant Parent Payment: 

Effective January 1, 2022, WIC 11465(e) authorizes a payment to be made directly to an expectant minor or NMD, approximately three (3) months prior to the minor/NMD’s due date. Prior to automation, this payment will be issued as a lump sum of $2,700; once automation has been finalized, an amount equivalent to the home-based foster care infant supplement will be paid monthly for the final three (3) months of a minor/NMD’s pregnancy. The payment will be the same regardless of placement type, and it will be paid directly to the expectant minor/NMD.

Infant Supplement:

Resource Families may receive an infant supplement if a young person in foster care who has been placed with them gives birth to a baby. The supplement is intended to cover the additional cost of providing food, clothing, and shelter for an infant.

Children who are living with a teen parent in a Whole Family Foster Home (WFFH) are eligible for the Infant Supplement provided in an FFH, FFA and RFA home as reflected below. The infant supplement remains the same and standardizes the infant supplement rate for all non-dependent children placed with their dependent parent.
 

Relative Caregiver Funding

KIN-GAP:

The Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment program (Kin-GAP) is available to eligible children who are permanently placed with a relative legal guardian upon the closing of their dependency case.

Movement to Kin-GAP is not automatic. The court, with a recommendation from the county social worker or probation officer, has discretion regarding whether termination of court involvement is in the child’s best interest. Relative caregiver’s participation in Kin-GAP is strictly voluntary, and not mandated by any regulations or statutes.

Approved Relative Caregiver Program:

The Approved Relative Caregiver program (ARC) extends cash aid benefits to relative caregivers who care for children who are ineligible to receive federal Foster Care benefits, otherwise known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC). If eligible, you can receive an ARC payment on behalf of the child which is equal to the current foster care rate.

Adoption Assistance Program:

Because a foster child doesn’t stop having needs simply as the result of leaving foster care via adoption, the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) benefit is given to adoptive families to facilitate providing for the needs of the child after the adoption.

Adopted youth are eligible to receive AAP benefits from the date of adoptive placement through age 18, with the benefit amount eligible for reassessment at minimum every 2 years or sooner upon the family’s request. Some may qualify for an extension under AB12, which extends foster care to age 21.