Can You Foster in an Apartment in DC? Housing Requirements Explained

The single most common reason qualified people abandon the D.C. foster care application is the belief that their apartment is too small. They call the agency, hear phrases like "bedroom square footage requirements" and "two means of egress," and quietly conclude their studio or one-bedroom isn't going to pass. In many cases, they're wrong — and the District ends up losing families it could have licensed.

D.C.'s housing regulations under DCMR Title 29, Chapter 60 were written for an urban environment. The square footage minimums are lower than most people assume, and many D.C. apartments that would be considered modest by suburban standards can be fully licensed.

Here is what the regulations actually require.

Bedroom Square Footage Minimums

The District specifies minimum bedroom sizes based on the number of children placed:

• Single child: 70 square feet minimum
• Two children sharing: 100 square feet minimum
• Three children sharing: 150 square feet minimum (three children is the maximum allowed per room without a special waiver)

Seventy square feet is smaller than most people picture. It can fit a twin bed and a dresser with a few feet of clearance. Most standard D.C. apartment bedrooms — particularly in rowhouses and pre-war buildings — meet this threshold for a single child placement.

If you have a two-bedroom apartment in Ward 1, 3, or 6, you likely qualify for at least one child placement in the second bedroom, depending on its dimensions. Measure both the floor area and clear floor space before concluding you don't qualify.

The Bed-Sharing Prohibition

Every foster child must have their own bed. No child may share a bed with another child or an adult under any circumstances.

Additional restrictions based on age:

• Children over five years old may not share a bedroom with a child of the opposite sex
• Children over 18 months of age may not share a room with an adult caregiver

These rules effectively mean that a studio apartment cannot be licensed for foster care, since there's no separate sleeping space for the child. A one-bedroom unit with a distinct, closeable bedroom can work — the foster parent sleeps in the living space and the child has the bedroom — though this arrangement is reviewed case by case by the licensing worker.

Egress: The Real Barrier for Some Units

"Two means of egress" is the requirement that actually disqualifies some D.C. apartments, particularly basement units. Every home must have two unrestricted paths to the outside.

In a multi-story apartment building, this typically means the main hallway plus a fire escape or secondary stairwell. In a rowhouse, it's usually the front entrance plus a rear door or accessible back window with a fire escape.

The problem arises in:

• Basement apartments with only one exterior door and no code-compliant window egress
• Garden apartments where a secondary exit path is blocked or inaccessible

If you live in a basement unit, check your lease and building documentation before applying. Some basement units in D.C. have been retrofit with compliant secondary egress — but many have not, and this cannot be fixed quickly.

Window Guards

Window guards are required on all windows above ground floor level that are accessible to children. This is not age-dependent — even if you're fostering an older child, guards are required on upper-floor windows.

Guards must be installed and functional. They must also be designed to be releasable from inside for emergency egress — a guard that locks shut and cannot be opened from inside fails the inspection.

In D.C.'s rowhouses and apartment buildings, window guard installation is typically a matter of purchasing the appropriate hardware and mounting it. Most hardware stores carry the required style. Budget a few days to get this done before your inspection.

Heating, Water, and Sanitation

The home must:

• Maintain a minimum temperature of 70°F during winter months
• Have hot water at the tap not exceeding 120°F
• Have at least one full bathroom for every eight residents

These are baseline standards most D.C. rentals already meet, but it's worth confirming with your landlord that your heating system is functional before the inspection.

Lead Paint in Pre-1978 Buildings

A significant portion of D.C.'s rental housing stock was built before 1978. Under the District's Lead Law, if you plan to foster a child under six years old in a pre-1978 unit, you must provide a Lead Clearance Report issued within the last 12 months.

This requires a certified inspector to assess the unit and certify it as free of lead hazards — or, if hazards are found, to document that they've been remediated by certified contractors. If your landlord hasn't provided this documentation and you plan to foster young children, start this process early. It takes time to schedule an inspection, and if remediation is needed, it takes longer still.

Locked Storage Requirements

All medications, cleaning supplies, toxic chemicals, and hazardous materials must be stored in locked cabinets that children cannot access. Under D.C.'s gun laws, firearms and ammunition must be stored separately in locked storage.

In apartments with limited storage, this typically means buying a small lockbox for medications and installing child-proof locks on cleaning supply cabinets. This is straightforward to fix before your inspection — but easy to overlook until a licensing worker points it out.

What Actually Disqualifies an Apartment

Based on the regulations, the genuine disqualifiers are:

1. Single-exit basement apartments with no compliant secondary egress
2. Buildings with severe, unmitigated lead hazards in units where young children would be placed
3. Units too small to meet the 70-square-foot bedroom minimum for even a single child

If none of those apply to your situation, your apartment very likely can be licensed. Don't self-disqualify based on assumptions.

The District of Columbia Foster Care Licensing Guide includes a room-by-room self-inspection checklist built specifically for D.C.'s urban housing — the same rubric licensing workers use, translated into plain English so you can assess your space before the official visit.

See more United States guides →