Foster Care

Temporary Placement & Supervision

The Foster Care Program provides for the temporary placement and supervision of a child / children placed in the custody of this agency by the court. While in foster care, a social worker will work together with the child / children’s family to address the family’s needs that brought the child / children into foster care.

It is the goal of the Foster Care Program to provide permanency to children by returning the child / children to the parent or prior custodian, placement with an appropriate relative, or through adoption or independent living, for older youth.

For additional information, please contact the program supervisor at (804) 469-4524.

Independent Living

The Independent Living Program seeks to assist foster care youth between the ages of 14-21 years of age by helping them to develop the basic skills needed to move from foster care to independence.

In 1999, the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP) ensured federal funding to increase services to youth who are likely to remain in foster care until 18 years of age or those who are 18-21 and need extra support in their efforts to achieve self-sufficiency.

Some of the services offered include education, vocational training, and daily living skills. For additional information, please contact the Independent Living Supervisor at (804) 469-4524

Foster / Resource Parent Program

Our Foster Care Permanency Team provides safe, alternate family care to children temporarily placed outside their home as a result of abuse, neglect or serious family problems.

For additional information, please see Foster Parent Recruitment.

Adoption

The Adoption Program focuses on providing permanent homes for those children in the custody of the agency who are unable to be reunited with their birth families and whose parents' parental rights have been terminated by the court. In addition, adoption staff provides supervision and complete home studies, when ordered by the court, in stepparent and parental placement adoptions.

We have a partnership with Children's Home Society, a local adoption agency, that recruits, trains, and completes home studies for prospective adoptive parents.

For additional information, please contact the program supervisor at (804) 469-4524

Adoption Searches

The department also conducts searches on behalf of adult adoptees, older than the age of 18, whose adoption was finalized in Chesterfield County or the City of Colonial Heights. These searches are initiated upon the submission of an application for disclosure to the Virginia Department of Social Services.

For further information, please contact:

  • Adoption Supervisor at (804) 469-4524
  • Virginia Department of Social Services at (800) 552-3431 (toll-free) or (804) 726-7000