Foster Parent Recruitment, Retention, and Support Funding Opportunity
(FPRRS)
Background
Prior to 2011, the California Department of Social Servicers (CDSS) allocated funds annually to individual
counties for the purpose of recruiting foster caregivers. These funds, along with funding for other child welfare activities, were realigned to
counties in 2011. In 2015, to address an anticipated increase in the
needed number of caregivers resulting from the implementation of the Continuum of
Care Reform effort, the CDSS initiated a time-limited, multi-year augmentation
of realigned recruitment funds, known as FPRRS. In addition to providing
supplemental funding for the purpose of recruiting, retaining, and supporting
foster caregivers, FPRRS also enacted a significant revision of the process by
which this kind of funding was received by counties. The Budget Act of
2015 included examples of allowable expenditures for FPRRS funds, which were later
codified in W&IC section 16003.5(a) by AB 403 (Chapter 773, Statutes of
2015), making them applicable to all future FPRRS funding provided by the CDSS. This augmentation was initially scheduled to end after fiscal year
2018-19; however, counties can continue to use realigned funds for recruitment,
retention, and support purposes.
The examples of allowable activities include:
- Staffing
to provide and improve direct services and supports to licensed foster family
homes, approved resource families, and relative caregivers and to remove any
barriers in those areas defined as priorities in the county implementation plan
and subsequent reports on outcomes
- Exceptional
child needs not covered by the caregiver-specific rate that would normalize the
child’s experience, stabilize the placement, or enhance the child’s well-being
- Child
care for licensed foster parents, approved resource families, and relative
caregivers
- Intensive
relative finding, engagement, and navigation efforts.
- Emerging
technological, evidence-informed or other nontraditional approaches to outreach
to potential foster family homes, resource families, and relatives.
Because these examples are not exhaustive, counties have the
flexibility to develop and implement a wide range of recruitment, retention, and
support activities using FPRRS funds.
Plans
and Reports
To receive FPRRS funds for each year, Child Welfare Departments
and Probation Departments are required to submit to the CDSS plans which outline activities and/or strategies that
are proposed to be undertaken using those funds. Each Department that received an allocation must report out annually on how the funds were spent. These submissions can be
made separately or jointly. The plan and report submissions are
listed below, sorted by year and county.
For Additional Information:
Foster Caregiver Policy and Support Unit
744 P Street, MS 8-13-78
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 651-7465
CaregiversForYouth@dss.ca.gov