How to Become a Resource Family & Resources for Resource Families (RFA Program)

Welcome to the Resource Families information page. Our mission is to connect resource families, and potential resource families, with information, resources, social workers and other resource families that can be a source of support and encouragement to you.

There are thousands of children in California’s foster care system who require temporary out-of-home care because of neglect, abuse or exploitation. The preferred placement of children who require out-of-home care is with relatives. If a home with relatives is not a possibility, resource families and other caretakers provide a supportive and stable environment for children who cannot live with their birth parents until family problems are resolved.

Resource families provide a temporary, safe home for children in crisis. They are part of the child’s support, treatment, and care programs. They are partners of the child’s social worker, attorney, teachers, and doctors. Being a resource family is not a passive act of opening one’s home and providing food, clothing, and shelter. For some it’s a first step toward adoption. For others it’s a proactive statement of nurturing, advocacy, and love. But, it’s not for everyone.

Children who need resource families have been removed from their birth family homes for reasons of neglect, abuse, abandonment, or other issues endangering their health and/or safety. Many of these children are filled with fear, anger, confusion, or a sense of powerlessness at having been removed from the only home they have ever known. Many are sibling groups, older children, or young teens. Some have developmental, physical, emotional, or behavioral problems... They all need loving, safe, supportive environments.

Please view the following links for more information:

Ready to begin the application process to become a Resource Family?  Please use this LINK to access the application through Binti, and begin the first steps to becoming a Resource Family today!