Scenario 2: Becoming a Foster Care Parent or Guardian of Someone Else’s Child through Juvenile Dependency Court

The second scenario we deal with in this section is answering questions for people with records who want to BECOME the foster care parent or guardian of a child who has an open CPS and dependency court case. The dependency court has its OWN RULES—different from probate court and family court—about the impact a criminal record will have on someone’s request to become the legal caregiver of some else’s child.

  1. Becoming a Foster Care Parent with a Record through Juvenile Dependency Court

    1. What is foster care?

    2. Who can be a child’s foster parent?

    3. How could my criminal record affect my ability to become a foster parent?

    4. What is the background check process for potential foster parents?

  2. Becoming a Guardian with a Record through Dependency Court

    1. What is a juvenile court guardianship?

    2. Who can be a child’s legal guardian in dependency court?

    3. How could my criminal record affect my ability to be appointed as the child’s guardian in dependency court?