This page explains the steps you need to take to keep a child or youth in your care. All kinship caregivers need to take these steps, whether you want to be licensed or not.

If you complete these steps, you’ll meet most of the requirements for getting a kinship caregiver license. The license will give you monthly payments to reimburse you for the costs of caring for a child or youth (these are called monthly foster care payments).

Options to consider

Begin with these two steps:

• Decide whether to get licensed. Getting licensed is optional. You’ll already be completing almost all the steps to get licensed when the child or youth comes to live with you, so we encourage you to get licensed. You’ll get monthly foster care payments to support the child or youth if you get licensed.
• Decide who to work with. DCYF offers a temporary license that gives you monthly payments more quickly (this is usually an "initial license"). For the full kinship license, you can work with us, or a private or tribal Child Placing Agency (CPA). A CPA or tribal CPA can be a good choice if you want more ongoing support or an agency that reflects your culture. Learn about what it means to work with a CPA or tribal CPA.

Required steps for all kinship caregivers

Whether you get licensed or not, you’ll need to complete these steps (also known as “placement requirements”), so the child or youth can remain in your care. These steps are also required for licensing.

When you’ll do this

You may go through some steps of this process before we place the child or youth in your home. You may go through other steps after we’ve already placed the child or youth in your home (for example, in emergency placements).

Steps to follow

• Complete name and date of birth background checks. You, everyone age 16 and older in your home, and everyone age 16 and older on your property who has unsupervised access to the child or youth will need to complete these background checks. (If the parents or guardians of the kinship child or youth are approved to live in the home as part of the case plan, they do not need to pass background checks.)
• Get a walkthrough of your home. DCYF will check your home for major safety hazards.
• Get fingerprinted for background checks. You and each member of your household age 18 and over need to be fingerprinted. Youth age 16 and over will need to be fingerprinted if they have lived out of state within the last three years. First, you’ll complete an online or paper form. Then, you’ll receive an email instructing you how to set up appointments. You need to complete these appointments within 10 days of placement.

• Complete and submit your home study application. We’ll help you complete your home study application online. We’ll send you an email with instructions to access the application in the Washington Caregiver Application Portal (WA CAP).

  Note

  If other adults in the home co-parent the child or youth with you, you should apply for the license together. 
  
  Only one adult can receive the monthly foster care payments. List this person’s name first on the application.

• Meet with licensing workers for home study visits and interviews. Learn more about the home study process. Let your licensing worker know if you need help meeting a requirement. Your licensing worker will connect with you to:
  • Complete interviews. At least one in person (others can be virtual). These can happen over multiple visits and be as long as two hours each.
  • If there are two or more caregivers, complete:
    • At least one interview with the caregivers together
    • One interview with each caregiver individually
  • Interview each household member, including children. These can be as short as 5 to 10 minutes. Children must be interviewed in person.
  • Interview all adult children you've parented. We usually do this by phone if they no longer live with you.
  • Complete the home inspection. Review the inspection checklist to learn what licensing workers are looking for.
• In rare cases, complete any other assessments we need. Sometimes, we need additional information about your physical health, mental health, or substance use history. If you’re getting treatment, counseling, or other support in these areas, we may want to speak to someone to confirm the support you’re getting.

How to get an initial (temporary) license for monthly payments

After we place a kinship child or youth in your home, we’ll call you to ask if you want a temporary license (usually an “initial license”). The initial license lets kinship caregivers get up to three months of foster care payments more quickly, while you complete the home study process. The initial license is good for 90 days.

You do not need an initial license to get a full kinship license.

What to expect

About two weeks after we place a kinship child or youth in your home, our Licensing Division will call you to ask if you want an initial license. If you have not gotten a phone call after two weeks, ask the caseworker or tribal worker to connect you with DCYF’s Licensing Division.

Within a few weeks of the phone call, DCYF will send you a letter via email or mail confirming your initial license.

Once you have the initial license, you’ll be eligible for monthly foster care payments for up to three months. At the end of each month, DCYF will send you an “invoice.” This is a credit that you need to claim to get your check. It takes about 45 days from placement to get your first check. Learn how to get foster care payments.

If we do not issue your full kinship license within 90 days of issuing your initial license, your monthly payments will stop. Payments will continue when DCYF issues you the full kinship caregiver license. We will not remove the child from your care just because you took longer than 90 days to get a full license.

How to get a full kinship license for monthly payments

When you complete the home study and fingerprinting to become a kinship caregiver, you’ll already be completing most of the steps to get a full kinship caregiver license. The only additional step for getting a full license is to agree to follow the rules for kinship caregivers.

You do not need an initial license to get a kinship license.

What to expect

When you complete the paperwork to become a kinship caregiver, you'll check a box that says you want a kinship caregiver license.

Ideally, we’ll issue the kinship license about 3 months after the child or youth comes to live with you.

If you’re approved, you’ll get your license via email or mail. Once DCYF approves your kinship license, you can get foster care payments.

If we deny your application, we’ll let you know, and you’ll have the right to appeal. A denial does not mean we’ll remove the child or youth from your care.