California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division

Getting a childcare or foster care licence in California with a record

Childcare and foster family licensing work through California's Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD), and the process is unlike most licences on this list: any conviction beyond a minor traffic infraction requires either a clean clearance or a specific exemption from the Department of Social Services, and the statute names which crimes can never be exempted.

The default is denial, with an exemption path

Health and Safety Code section 1522(a)(3)(A) is blunt: if CDSS finds that an applicant has been convicted of a crime other than an infraction, the application must be denied, unless CDSS grants an exemption. Misdemeanors are included in that default, not just felonies. The exemption, under section 1522(g)(1), is discretionary -- CDSS may grant it after reviewing the record, but only for crimes that are not on the non-exemptible list.

The roughly 60 crimes that can never be exempted

CDSS publishes a specific, numbered Non-Exemptible Crimes List -- currently around 60 categories, including murder and manslaughter, mayhem, torture, assault of a child under 8 (Penal Code 273ab), willful cruelty to a child (Penal Code 273d), all Penal Code 290(c) sex-offender-registration offences including child pornography crimes, and the broader category of violent felonies under Penal Code 667.5(c). As CDSS puts it plainly: the department is prohibited by law from granting exemptions to individuals convicted of serious crimes such as robbery, sexual battery, child abuse, elder or dependent adult abuse, arson, or kidnapping.

A stricter, absolute bar for dependent children

Facilities eligible to accept placement of a dependent child face a harder line: an exemption cannot be granted at all for a felony conviction involving child abuse or neglect, spousal abuse, crimes against a child including child pornography, or a violent crime like rape, sexual assault, or homicide -- and separately, for physical assault, battery, or a drug- or alcohol-related offence within the last five years. There is no 10-year-rehabilitation path around this specific bar.

Who the background check reaches

It is broader than the applicant. Anyone living in a licensed foster or childcare home, working at a licensed facility, or having regular contact with children in care can be subject to this same background check -- meaning a household member's criminal record can affect a licence application even when the applicant's own record is clean.

The exemption process itself

If your conviction is exemptible, CDSS's Care Provider Management Branch sends an exemption notification letter, and you have 45 days to submit a packet: a written request, three character references on form LIC 301E, certificates of rehabilitation or training, and a written statement about the offence. If CDSS denies the exemption, you can appeal within 15 days.

• Written exemption request within 45 days of notification
• Three character references on form LIC 301E
• Certificates of rehabilitation, counseling, or training completed
• A written statement describing the offence and what has changed since
• Appeal of a denial within 15 days

Where a dismissal fits in

A Penal Code 1203.4 dismissal does not remove a conviction from this background check framework -- CDSS's review reaches the underlying conviction regardless. But it is meaningful evidence in an exemption request, alongside a Certificate of Rehabilitation and the other rehabilitation documentation CDSS asks for.

Official source: California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division

Legal information on this page was last checked against primary sources in October 2026. California law changes; if you are reading this long after that date, confirm before you rely on it.