Welf. & Inst. Code, § 11404

(a) Except as provided in Section 11405, a child is not eligible for AFDC-FC unless responsibility for placement and care of the child is with the county welfare department or Indian tribe that entered into an agreement pursuant to Section 10553.1, the county probation department which has an agreement with the county welfare department, or a licensed public adoption agency, licensed private adoption agency, or the department.

(b) In order for the child to be eligible for AFDC-FC, the agency with responsibility for the child’s placement and care shall, in accordance with departmental regulations do all of the following:

(1) For children removed after October 1, 1983, document that it provided preplacement preventive services to the child prior to the child’s placement in foster care, and document why provisions of these services were not successful in maintaining the child in his or her home, unless it is documented that these services were not provided due to either of the following:

(A) The voluntary relinquishment of the child by one or both parents or court action declaring a child free from the custody and control of one or both parents.

(B) The child’s residence with a nonrelated legal guardian.

(2) Develop a written assessment of the reasons necessitating the child’s placement in foster care and the treatment needs of the child while in foster care to be updated by the agency no less frequently than once every six months. Where the child is a parent who has a child living with him or her in the same eligible facility, the assessment shall also address the needs of his or her child.

(3) Develop a case plan for the child within a maximum of 60 days of placement.

(4) Ensure that services are provided to return the child to his or her own home or establish an alternative permanent placement for the child if returning home is not possible or is inappropriate.