(a) With full consideration for the proximity of the natural parents to the placement so as to facilitate visitation and family reunification, when a placement in foster care is being made, the following considerations shall be used:
(1) Placement shall, if possible, be made in the home of a relative, unless the placement would not be in the best interest of the child. Diligent efforts shall be made by an agency or entity to which this subdivision applies, to locate an appropriate relative as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (h) of Section 319 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. At a permanency hearing in which the court terminates reunification services, or at a postpermanency hearing for a child not placed for adoption, the court shall find that the agency or entity to which this subdivision applies has made diligent efforts to locate an appropriate relative and that each relative whose name has been submitted to the agency or entity as a possible caretaker, either by the relative or by other persons, has been evaluated as an appropriate placement resource.
(2) An agency or entity that receives state assistance and is involved in foster care placements shall not do either of the following:
(A) Deny a person the opportunity to become a foster parent on the basis of the race, color, or national origin of the person or the child involved.
(B) Delay or deny the placement of a child into foster care on the basis of the race, color, or national origin of the foster parent or the child involved.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not affect the application of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. Sec. 1901 et seq.).
(c) This section does not preclude a search for an appropriate relative being conducted simultaneously with a search for a foster family.
(Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 845, Sec. 1. (AB 2929) Effective January 1, 2025.)