Shaping the Future of Child Welfare in Virginia: 2024 Budget Recap
Child Welfare
State Advocacy
By
Allison Gilbreath
As Virginia grapples with the multifaceted challenges of child welfare, members of the money committees play a crucial role in shaping policies and providing funding to support vulnerable children and families. In this blog post, we will dissect the proposed budgets from both the House and Senate, focusing on key allocations aimed at improving foster care, adoption, and child welfare services. All funding listed is for fiscal year 2025 – 2026.
Fund 7% Foster Care & Adoption COLA:
Allocation: $7 million
Overview: This funding is allocated to provide a 7% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for foster care and adoption support payments, helping to ensure that the financial assistance provided to families keeps pace with inflation and rising costs of living.
Appropriate Nongeneral Funds for Local Staff and Operations:
Allocation: $85.2 million NGF
Overview: These nongeneral funds are designated to support local staff and operations within child welfare agencies, ensuring that they have the necessary resources to effectively manage caseloads and provide quality services.
Develop the Kinship Care Prevention Program:
Allocation: $24.2 million
Overview: This funding is aimed at developing the Parental Child Safety Placement Program, a kinship care prevention initiative that supports children staying with relatives or close family friends as an alternative to entering foster care.
Fund Child Welfare Forecast:
Allocation: $3.2 million
Overview: The allocation for the Child Welfare Forecast ensures that the state can accurately predict and plan for future needs within the child welfare system, allowing for better resource allocation and planning.
Training Academy for Social Services Employees:
Allocation: $5.5 million
Overview: The Training Academy is designed to enhance the skills and knowledge of social services employees, providing them with the training needed to better serve children and families involved in the child welfare system.
Transfer Funding for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care:
Allocation: $1.3 million
Overview: This funding is transferred from the Department of Housing & Community Development to the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) to better support youth aging out of foster care, helping them transition successfully to independence.
Fund Drivers License Foster Youth:
Allocation: $620,000
Overview: This allocation is intended to provide support for foster youth in obtaining driver’s licenses, which are crucial for their independence and access to employment and educational opportunities.
Fund Kin First Consultants:
Allocation: $504,154
Overview: Kin First Consultants are provided funding to assist with the kinship care program, ensuring that relatives who take in children are supported and that the children’s needs are met within a family setting.
Support Foster Youth in Great Expectations Program:
Allocation: $1 million
Overview: The Great Expectations Program receives this funding to continue its mission of supporting foster youth in higher education, providing them with the resources and guidance needed to succeed academically.
Overview: This funding is allocated for court-appointed attorneys in child dependency cases, with a delayed enactment of 6 months. It includes increased payments for Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) cases to ensure that legal representation for families is adequately compensated.
Pilot Programs to Increase Foster Care Adoptions:
Allocation: $3 million
Overview: These pilot programs aim to increase the number of foster care children adopted, providing innovative solutions and support to facilitate permanent placements for children in need of forever homes.
What’s Next?
As we look forward, Voices for Virginia’s Children is committed to continuing our advocacy for the needs of children and families within the child welfare system. We hope to work in partnership with long-standing partners Virginia Poverty Law Center and Legal Aid Justice Center to establish better legal supports for families in child dependency cases. Additionally, we are preparing for the 2025 legislative session by gathering more research and developing tools that will help shape policies and programs that best support Virginia’s most vulnerable children.
Stay tuned as we continue to work towards a future where every child in Virginia is supported, protected, and given the opportunity to thrive. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of children and families across the commonwealth.
Transforming the lives of young people requires us to transform systems through our evidence-based, community-informed policy change. Your contribution to Voices provides us with the vital resources we need to continue our advocacy.