FOSTER CARE & ADOPTION

Foster care is a program run by the state of Virginia that provides temporary care for children who cannot live with their parents or other relatives.  Through this system, the local department of social services takes legal custody for a child when that child’s parent or parents are unable to care for him or her because of neglect and/or abuse.

Placement of a child in foster care should be temporary until a more permanent solution is found.  Preferred options include working with the families to improve conditions in order to return the child to their home, placement with a relative, or adoption.

SNAPSHOT OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN FOSTER CARE

Children in foster care represent various racial and ethnic backgrounds and range in age from infancy to age 21.  Some of the children are siblings; some are placed together while others are separated.

Most children placed in foster care live with foster families, but some children live in group homes or other “residential settings.”  Residential settings may be school-like and provide more intensive medical behavioral or mental health treatment for children who need these kinds of services.

Children in foster care are more vulnerable than their non-foster care peers in almost every way.  They face more substantial challenges in terms of education, physical and mental health, housing, and income stability as they enter adulthood.

Education and Training:  National data indicate that youth in foster care are more than twice as likely as non-foster care youth to drop out of high school (37% vs. 16%); less than half as likely to be enrolled in college preparatory classes (15% vs. 32%); significantly underrepresented in post-secondary programs; often behind their peers in academic achievement; and much more likely than non-foster care youth to be in special education.

Health:  As many as 80% of youth nationally involved with child welfare agencies have emotional or behavioral disorders that require mental health interventions.

Housing: Approximately one in five youth who age out of care in the U.S. are homeless for one or more nights within a year after leaving care.  

Employment – Nationally, the median income for youth who age out is below the median income of the general population; at least one study found that youth aging out of foster care have mean earnings below the poverty level. 

FOSTER CARE POLICY GOALS

• Extend Medicaid benefits to youth ages 18, 19, and 20 with income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level who were receiving foster care services on their 18th birthday.
• Create a statutory right for foster youth to receive independent living services from their 18th birthday until their 21st birthday.
• Incorporate into the foster care service plan of every youth age 14 and older a comprehensive Independent Living services plan, and fund local social services and child placing agencies to provide services to help youth meet the goals of their plan.
• Allow a child to be exempted from the 24 month period of TANF ineligibility imposed on the child’s parents, if the child has been removed from custody due to abuse/neglect and is now in the custody of a relative caregiver.

FOSTER CARE PARTNERS IN VIRGINIA

For Keeps, an initiative led by First Lady Anne Holton:  For Keeps is an initiative to find and strengthen permanent family connections for older youth in foster care.  For Keeps is grounded in the belief that all youth deserve and need permanent family connections to become happy and successful adults.

FACES of Virginia Families (Virginia’s Foster, Adoptive and Kinship Association):  FACES of Virginia Families is a non-profit membership-driven Association offering information, support and resources for foster, adoptive and kinship families.  Contact Cate Newbanks, FACES Project Director, for more information.

Virginia Poverty Law Center:  VPLC is a not-for-profit organization concentrating in the following areas of law that affect low-income families: consumer, elder rights, family, health care, housing, and public benefits.

Virginia Youth Advisory Council (V-YAC): The Virginia Youth Advisory Council provides a forum in which foster care youths can gain information about the foster care system and exchange ideas that will improve foster care.  For more information, contact: Patrick Plourde with the Virginia Department of Social Services.

FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION PUBLICATIONS

Foster Care in Virginia: A Place to Call Home (January 2008)

Media statement on report highlighting youth "aging out" of Virginia's foster care system. (May 2007)

The Special Needs of Infants and Toddlers in Foster Care: The Population of Infants and Toddlers in Foster Care (updated May 2006)

How Prepared Are Virginia's Young Adults for Their Life After Foster Care? (November 2005)

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