Become a Foster Parent in Virginia

Openness to helping a child

Open up your heart and home to be part of something bigger than you. The parent always works for the benefit of the child. Children in foster care need a safe place to live while their birth parents work through adversity. Foster parents are driven to provide a temporary stable home life and caring place for a child to live in within an environment of compassion and love until the child returns home.

But for the kids that can not return home, 70% of kids adopted from foster care are adopted by their foster parents. That is a fantastic opportunity you give a kid for the rest of their life.

Our parents come from all works of life, and your work and life experience will enhance what you bring to being a foster parent. So please never think that your life experience is unsuitable for a child in foster care, with nearly 5000 kids in the Virginia Department of social services care. We will find a child that will be great for you or your family.

There is no time for how long a youth will be in foster care; a child and their family are unique, and their journey is also unique. It is still essential when a foster parent or adoptive parents commit to a child. Parents assist with achieving the Permanency goals set by the Commonwealth of Virginia permanency goal, whether reunification with family, placement with relatives, kinship care, or adoption.

As a foster parent, you have a critical role in working with the child's biological parents, if this is from home respite care service or caring long term for the child. You will need to support the child during visitations and phone calls. Engaging positively with the birth parents to ensure they see their child's strengths and help celebrate them. Foster parents work hard to reach their child's goals.

Foster Parent Training

You will receive specialized training in a group or individual setting. Training will be relevant to the youth's age and personal needs and take the skills you have or will need to care for a particular child's unique needs and enhance them. We will help you understand how the home study process works and guide you on what you may need to do to your home to make it safe for the youth staying with you if these are children entering care for the first time or veterans of the child welfare system.

If your foster child's goal is Foster to Adopt or stay within the Treatment Foster Care system (TFC), your child's welfare may be short-term or long-term placement. Creating a successful living situation for children and families is always essential.

Like all parents, you will face day-to-day challenges regarding the child's various needs, but we are here to help. Our team has great depth and experience to help with all your training and support needs. We understand that being a foster parent can be difficult, much like all parenting. Therefore, we support all our parents so they can care for the children in a fun and safe family environment.

Foster Parent Support

We have a support group that meets monthly for all foster families and respite care for yourself. Our support includes Individual clinical case managers and a crisis line manned 24/7/365. These tried and tested systems are put in place to ensure you and the child are supported during this journey as a foster parent.

We help you navigate the journey to a successful foster family or a forever family for a child. The care for our children is discussed within a treatment team, including the child's local Department of Social Services (LDSS), the foster care program or adoption agency, and yourself. Everyone's goal is to support you as a foster parent or, if you have chosen to be a foster to adopt a family to support this journey.

We have a vast library of blogs and articles to help you understand all areas of foster care in the united states, from finding respite care from our network of foster parents with the guidance of your case manager to getting a child into high school and many areas of support for all the family caregivers.