Showing Up, Together in Virginia
In Virginia, about 5,000–5,500 children live in foster care at any given time, depending on the month. Each child brings a story that didn’t start in foster care and won’t end there.
Children enter care because of safety concerns, instability, or unmet needs. They carry more than a bag of belongings. They carry relationships, routines, and deep connections to their families.
Foster parents step into that space and understand that:
This role remains temporary in a child’s life
Many cases focus on reunification or placement with relatives
Progress takes time and looks different for every family
Their role does not replace a family but helps hold stability while families rebuild
Foster Care Awareness Month in Virginia creates an opportunity to reflect on how people provide support, not just recognize the need for it. It calls for respect for families, support for foster parents, collaboration across agencies and communities, and a clear focus on stability and connection for children.
What Support Looks Like Day to Day
Support in foster care is often steady and practical. Across Virginia, that looks like:
- Maintaining normal childhood routines—school, meals, bedtime
- Transportation to appointments, court, and family visits
- Learning and applying trauma-informed care
- Communicating with local departments of social services, therapists, and teams
- Supporting ongoing connection between children and their families
More than half of children in Virginia are placed in non-relative foster homes, while many others are placed with relatives or kin, like in kinship care. Each placement plays a role in helping a child experience consistency during a time of uncertainty.
Respect for Families Matters
Families involved in foster care in Virginia are often navigating significant challenges, but that does not define their commitment to their children.
Respect shows up in how we:
- Talk about biological families
- Support visitation and connection when appropriate
- Recognize the effort it takes for families to meet case goals
- Understand that every situation is different
For referral sources and professionals across Virginia’s child welfare system, this perspective is essential. Outcomes improve when there is shared understanding and collaboration, not disconnection.
Foster Parents: Seen and Supported
Foster parents across Virginia are part of a larger system of care. They are not expected to carry this work alone.
They are:
- Welcoming children into their homes, often with little notice
- Navigating transitions, including reunification and placement changes
- Working alongside local departments, agencies, and service providers
- Balancing connection with the understanding that their role may be temporary
Virginia also serves a significant number of teens in care, with thousands of youth ages 13–18 at any given time.
Supporting older youth requires consistency, patience, and strong collaboration across the team.
Foster parents deserve to be supported, informed, and valued in that process.
By the Numbers in Virginia
Approximately 5,000+ children in foster care statewide
- Thousands of youth are teenagers navigating school, identity, and transition planning
- Many children will return home or be placed with relatives rather than remain in care long-term
- Outcomes depend on coordination between families, foster parents, and professionals
These numbers reflect real experiences happening across communities, from Richmond to rural counties—and they highlight the importance of a system that works together.
Moving Forward with Intention
Foster Care Awareness Month in Virginia is an opportunity to reflect on how support is provided, not just that it is needed.
- With respect for families
- With support for foster parents
- With collaboration across agencies and communities
- With a focus on stability and connection for children
Each May, we are given a reason to pause and acknowledge something that happens every day across Virginia: children and families navigating difficult seasons, while at the same time a network of people steps in to support them.
In many ways, foster care in Virginia is not a separate story from families; rather, it is part of it. It often reflectsmoments when additional support is needed, and, importantly, when systems, caregivers, and communities work together to create stability for children as families move toward healing.
There are no simple solutions in foster care. But across Virginia, there are people: families, foster parents, and professionals, continuing to show up and stay engaged in the work.
And that steady presence is what allows progress to happen.