The Children’s Home Society of Virginia was founded to build strong, permanent families and lifelong relationships for Virginia’s at-risk children and youth.
Since 1900, we have been guided by the fundamental belief that every child deserves a home. We find permanent, loving adoptive homes for children of all ages and provide critical support services to birth families, adoptive families, and past and present adoptees.
Our adoption programs all work together to find homes for children in Virginia’s foster care system and to maintain successful families after adoptions have been finalized.
Keep reading to learn more about our full spectrum of adoption programs, which include:
- Foster Care Adoption
- Post Adoption
- My Path Forward
- Advocacy
Adoption Programs
Foster Care Adoption
Our Foster Care Adoption program supports, trains, and licenses families who want to adopt. We are a licensed child-placing agency and follow the Virginia requirements for foster and adoptive homes.
CHSVA supports both private adoptions and foster care adoptions.
We partner with Virginia’s local departments of social services to:
- Prepare foster youth for adoption
- Give them a voice in the process
- Identify adoptive families who can meet their wishes and needs
The youth we support are most often pre-teens and teenagers. They may have emotional, behavioral, and mental health needs related to past traumas. These youth may live in foster homes, group homes, or residential facilities.
CHSVA believes in sharing the strengths and personalities of these youth. The real child lies beyond the descriptions in their case files.
Once matched, our training and support services equip parents to meet the individual needs of their adopted child, build healthy attachments, and parent therapeutically, which ultimately results in a legal adoption and permanency for the youth.
If you have questions about our Foster Care Adoption program, please reach out to Justina Snead, Foster Care & Adoption Program Manager, by emailing [email protected].
Post Adoption
The Post Adoption program provides free, trauma-informed services to families who have finalized an adoption but need continued support. The effects of early trauma and other aspects of adoption can have long-term impacts, so we use our knowledge to provide ongoing help to families in their adoptive journey.
We serve families in the Northern and Central Virginia regions. Our services are available to any family with at least one adoptive child between the ages of six and 18 years old. The families we serve did not have to adopt through CHSVA to take part in our Post Adoption program.
Our Post Adoption program provides case management to families in need of connection to resources, answers to questions about adoptive issues, and short-term guidance through various types of challenges common to adoptive families.
We also provide respite and peer support programming to our families to enhance their connections and build a sense of community amongst our adoptive families.
Our services are family-friendly and meet each family’s unique needs. Our team will work with your family to identify the type of service, service delivery, and schedule that works best for you. Our goal is to empower parents to enhance attachment, increase parenting skills and approaches specific to the adoptive population, and improve overall family dynamics.
If you have questions about our Post Adoption program, please reach out to Sara Vanderploeg, Post Adoption Program Manager, by emailing [email protected].
My Path Forward
My Path Forward provides affordable housing and intensive wraparound supports to help young adults learn how to be thriving and independent adults. This program focuses on healthy, positive relationships and building strong lifelong supports.
My Path Forward services address the major barriers young adults transitioning out of foster care face when trying to build a stable future for themselves, which include:
- Housing
- Transportation
- Employment
- Education
- Medical and mental health care
- Finances and available resources
- Meeting basic needs
My Path Forward uses research, best practices, and a trauma-informed and youth-driven approach to guide its programming and services.
If you have questions about My Path Forward, please reach out to Kristen Turso-Whitlow, My Path Forward Program Manager, by emailing [email protected].
Advocacy
We started our advocacy work by pulling together a panel of experts that included youth in our program who identified more than 40 policy recommendations. The panel also includes local, state, and national experts in all different subject matters like education, employment, LGBTQ-specific issues, permanency, financial literacy, and more. This became our roadmap for advocacy.
We take a collaborative approach and work with community partners, youth, and families touched by the foster care system, other advocates, and government agencies to create systemic change that positively impacts children, youth, and families throughout the state.
What makes us unique is that our agency does the “boots on the ground” work in addition to advocacy. This allows us to better incorporate client voice and the practical implications of policy change.
This year, our focus was on working with the Commission on Youth to study workforce development barriers and solutions for youth aging out of foster care.
Everyone can get involved in our advocacy work. These issues affect our whole community, whether you realize it or not. If you or anyone you know wants to get involved, contact your legislator to express your support, attend Advocacy Day, or reach out to Cassie Baudean ([email protected]) for more creative ways to help increase awareness and contribute to our policy work.
Supporting Virginia Adoption
CHSVA is passionate about finding permanent, loving homes for at-risk youth. We believe that every child deserves a home.
For 122 years, we have been committed to serving children and families in the commonwealth. Our specially-designed programs transform our community by creating and supporting families in which children are able to thrive.
When we allow children to thrive, our entire community benefits. If children age out of the foster care system, they don’t graduate. They become homeless. They go to jail. And worse.
Our work would not be possible without generous supporters like you. Together, we change the lives of children of all ages. Please continue supporting our cause so we are able to help another 16,000 Virginia children, youth, and families.
You can share this blog post on your social media feeds, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, spread the word about the work we do, or even give financially if you are able. Every dollar makes a difference in the life of a child.
You can also support us by coming out to our 2022 Anniversary Celebration at Main Line Brewery in Richmond. The evening will feature keynote speaker Leigh Anne Tuohy from the Blockbuster movie, The Blind Side, as well as music from The Way Down Wanderers. Your ticket includes appetizers from three local food trucks and two drink tickets for craft beer or hard seltzer. Learn more about the event and buy your tickets here! We can’t wait to celebrate together!