[pengwen]

My husband and I have a blended family with 6 children. 4 of whom are here 50% of the time. We are very interested in adding a baby to our family. I was told that the state of California only allows 6 children to live in the home at a time. Therefore, we would not be able to adopt. We have the space to adequately take care of a baby...and are financially stable. I have a hard time believing they put stipulations on a two parent family when they have the means to take care of a child in need. We are only looking at the DSS due to the cost of private adoptions. Otherwise we would probably look at adopting out of Mexico. Does anyone have any knowledge of this law, or any advice? I actually adopted one of my children 8 years ago when I was in a previous marriage.

[Growing_by_adoption]

Hi...I think the 6 child limit is correct here in California. The best thing to do would be to contact your local office and ask. Try the FFA's also. Good Luck!

[BusyCaliMomma]

Yes, I also believe six is the limit here in CA.

[pengwen]

Is there any way to get around this law. I read the story that led to the law change. It was due to a single foster mother who housed 9 children in her home where a 4.5 year old died. We are a family of 8, two parents and six chidlren. We have a large home with five bedrooms and three baths. We have a huge supportive family and happy, healthy children. I just can't understand how they can make it a 'blanket' law instead of a case by case basis.

[mcbmom]

There are waivers but hard to come by. You might have better luck going through an agency instead of a county. The county doesn't want to "waste" their resources on training you when they can't place multiple kids with you. We were told by Riverside County we were a no go for classes since we had 3 kids (bio) and one of the three was special needs. The new law states max of 3 kids if one or two are special needs. So we were already maxed out on that limitation. With the agency (Foster Family Agency) we were able to get approved as foster parents for up to 2 kids and we were just placed with our new daughter for adoption (medical special needs) We paid nothing out of pocket for all of this except finger printing fees and the cost to get our house inspection ready.

[BusyCaliMomma]

Honestly, I am not sure. I would talk to your both the county and licensing agency. We were able to get an exemption on a different issue, so its worth inquiring about.

[la vida loca]

Six is the limit in California. Waivers are generally only entertained in the event of a sibling. For example, if a family has already adopted a child (or sibling group) and a new sibling is born one can sometimes obtain a waiver in order to place the newborn with his/her siblings.

[pengwen]

I have made several calls...including to Sacramento...and found out that according to Title 22, division 6, chapter 9.5, section 89228, that the agency CAN issue a waiver to a family with six children in the home as long as the family can accomodate the foster child adequately! YAY! They can also authorize up to 8 children in the home if the foster children are siblings. There are many licensing agencies who are not aware of this yet!

[BusyCaliMomma]

Congratulations! I am so glad you were able to do some research and get this figured out.