Resource Family Approval

Resource Family Approval is a method of approving care providers to foster, adopt and/or provide legal guardianship for children and youth. The term Resource Family incorporates terms such as foster parent, relative caregiver, adoptive family, guardianship family and non-relative extended family member.

Del Norte County Department of Health & Human Services issues Resource Family Approval (RFA) certification for the State of California’s Community Care Licensing Division. A person may apply for certification to operate a RFA in their own home to provide care and supervision for six or fewer children, including foster children. This care is provided to children/youth removed from their own homes by either Child Welfare Services or the Probation Department. To be considered a caregiver's own home, the caregiver must provide verifiable documentation indicating control of the property, which simply means the legal right to enter, occupy, and maintain operation of the home. 

County workers are here to help you through the entire process of  Resource Family Approval. In general, the process includes:
  • Completing an application
  • Background checks for all adults residing in the resource home
  • Completion of pre-approval training 
  • Home environment assessment
  • First aid and CPR certification
  • Self-attest health screening
  • Face-to-face interviews with an approved county social worker
  • Providing references
  • Providing any requested verification
We would love to connect with you! For more information, please call 464-3191 or email rfa@co.del-norte.ca.us

For additional information you may visit the California Community Care Licensing Website at www.cdss.ca.gov residential care.
You may also download the Resource Family Approval Written Directives from the California Department of Social Services for a thorough explanation of the Resource Family Approval process.

County of Del Norte
Department of Health & Human Services
Social Services Branch Public Assistance /
Employment & Training Branch
880 Northcrest Drive
Crescent City, CA 95531
Phone (707) 464-3191
Fax (707) 465-1783
880 Northcrest Drive
Crescent City, CA 95531
Phone (707) 464-3191
Fax (707) 465-1783

Behavioral Health Branch

Public Health Branch
455 K Street
Crescent City, CA 95531
(707) 464-7224
(800) 446-4408 (toll free)
400 L Street
Crescent City, CA 95531
Phone (707) 464-0861
Fax (707) 465-6701