Questions About Foster Care in Virginia
Foster Care is a program run by the state of Virginia. It provides temporary care for children and young people who cannot live with their parents or family.
The local department of social services takes legal responsibility (called “custody”) when a child’s parents need help. Most children placed in foster care live with a family (called a foster family).
It is not your fault you are in foster care. A caseworker told a court that your parents were not able to provide you with a safe living situation. Then a group of people, including social workers, lawyers, and a judge, decided to place you in foster care.
The state is responsible for helping your parents or caregivers solve the problems that keep them from being able to care for you. If your parents can solve their problems, the judge will send you home—as long as you will be safe there.
A judge decided you should be placed in foster care after hearing from your parent(s), other caregivers, social workers, lawyers, and other people.
Sometimes, a child is in foster care because their home was not safe or a social worker decided the child was not being well cared for.
Other times, a child is placed in foster care after the parent(s) or other caregivers have received help for their problems but haven’t been able to solve them.
Sometimes, parents ask for help for their child that they cannot provide.
Your Guardian ad Litem (GAL), a lawyer who tells the court what he or she believes is in your best interests, may tell the judge that being in foster care is best for you right now.
▪ Your GAL tells the judge what THEY think is best for you. This may not be the same as what YOU want. Always let your GAL know your wants and concerns. Your GAL must tell the judge your wishes.
The different court hearings can be confusing. This chart can help:
▪ Family foster homes: While you are living there, you should be treated like any other member of the family.
▪ Independent Living arrangements: Some older teens may live in an apartment without constant adult supervision: youth who are at least 18 years old, or in the U.S. as a refugee or through asylum.
- Most youth in Independent Living arrangements are in college or vocational training or have jobs. They may receive financial help called an “Independent Living Stipend.”
▪ Residential center: some youth who have special health needs and cannot be cared for in a family home live in a residential group home or “treatment center” where they can get treatment.
Terms used in this guide
Adoption: when adults become the legal parents of a child who was not born to them.
Best Interests: the legal standard a judge must use when deciding what is best for a child. The judge may think your “best interests” are different from what you think they are.
Birth parents: persons who were the parents of a child at birth.
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate): a volunteer who gets to know the child and makes recommendations to the court re-garding the needs of that child.
Caseworker: a person, usually a social worker, who works for CPS or DSS who is trained to help families and children.
CPS: (Child Protective Services): a government agency responsible for children who may be abused or neglected.
Custody: there are two kinds of custody an adult may have of a child: physical custody (a person or persons with whom a child lives) and legal custody (refers to people with legal responsibility for making decisions about a child). Children in foster care are usually in the physical custody of a foster parent but the legal custody of DSS.
DSS (Department of Social Services): a government agency responsible for helping families and children get help they need.
Foster family: a family with whom a child in foster care lives.
GAL (Guardian ad Litem): a lawyer who represents the “best interests” of a child in foster care. The GAL is responsible for telling the judge what he or she thinks is best for you.
Group home: a home where a group of foster children live instead of with a foster family.
Independent Living Coordinator: a worker who assists older youth in care prepare for adulthood by providing Independent Living Services and supports.
Social worker: someone who is trained to help families and children.
Treatment Center: a place like a hospital or group home where children or youth may live to get special services or treatment for mental health or other issues.
“Hearings” are court meetings to make decisions about you and your life. These must be held at least once every six months. Your parents, caseworker, GAL and others like a CASA worker or your foster parents will attend.
You have the right to get “notice of” (official information about) these hearings, and go to them, if you are 12 years old or older. If you are younger than 12, tell your GAL and caseworker if you want to attend.
- For older youth in an Independent Living program, or whose goal is permanent foster care, there is only one court hearing each year.
- Between the court hearings, there is an “Administrative Panel Review” (APR), which is like a court hearing, but without a judge. You also have the legal right to be at the APR and to have your concerns heard.
- At a “permanency hearing” (to decide what your permanent living situation should be), you must be allowed to be present, no matter your age. Ask your GAL to be included at this hearing.
- Tell your GAL. They must tell the judge what you want, even if that is different from what they believe is best.
- If there is another adult you would like to have involved in making decisions about your life, let your caseworker and GAL know.
- YOU can also tell the judge what you want. The judge can hear from you in court, or in his or her private office (called “chambers”), away from everyone else. Let your GAL know if you want to speak to the judge in court, or privately in chambers. If you are age 12 or over, you have a right to help plan your life and to attend court hearings.
Your caseworker, along with others, including your parents and other caregivers–and you, if age 12 or older–work together to create a plan for you. The plan includes things such as what school you will attend, and what services you will receive. The plan must be approved by a judge.
If you are 12 years old or older: by law, you may participate in writing the foster care service plan; and you must receive a copy of it. Also, you may have another adult you trust attend planning meetings with you, and help write the plan.
Even if you are not yet 12, you may ask your caseworker or GAL about attending the plan-writing meeting.
Your caseworker is responsible for:
- Making contact with you at least every month
- Working with you and your foster parent, care provider, or Independent Living Coordinator and others to develop and support your service plan
- Helping you enroll in programs designed to help you transition to adulthood
- Arranging your service planning meetings
You are responsible for:
- Taking an active role in your service plan
- Participating in Independent Living services and training
- Discussing your questions or concerns with your caseworker, Independent Living coordinator or other care provider
Your foster parents or other care providers are responsible for:
- Caring for you and providing you with a safe home and supportive space
- Helping you with your caseworker, Independent Living coordinator and other support people, including your parents if your official goal is to return home
- Helping you develop life skills
- Getting you to appointments, meetings and classes
Your Independent Living coordinator is responsible for:
- Helping you develop your service plan and help you carry it out
- Assessing your readiness to enter the community or an Independent Living Arrangement
- Conducting life skills training and providing you with information about other life skills services
You have the right to visit regularly with your parents and any brothers or sisters who are not living with you while in foster care. How often depends on what your caseworker and GAL recommend and what the judge orders. You may communicate with your siblings through phone calls, texting, and emails as well. If the court terminates your parents’ rights, you may no longer have a right to visit your family members. Ask your caseworker about this.
Your visitation schedule is also in your foster care service plan, approved by the judge. If you are not happy with your visitation schedule, tell your caseworker and GAL.
- You have the right to live as normal a life as possible while in foster care. Your foster care plan may spell out who makes the decisions about what freedoms you can have.
- School activities: Ask your foster parents, caseworker, and GAL about getting permission for sports and field trips.
- Clothes: Your foster care plan includes a small allowance, paid to your foster parents, for new clothes as needed. Talk to your foster parents if you need new clothes. If your foster family doesn’t help you to buy clothing, contact your caseworker or GAL.
- Ask your caseworker, GAL, or Independent Living coordinator about a cell phone, computer, or other devices. The rules for using devices may depend on the house rules of your foster family or other living situation.
Sometimes a particular foster family is not a good fit for a particular child. It’s normal to feel awkward and there may be friction between you and any foster family, especially at first. Give it some time to see if things improve.
If after giving it your best effort you feel your foster family is not right for you, or they do not accept you for any reason speak to your caseworker and GAL.
-Let your caseworker or GAL know about any problems you are having. You have the right to contact your caseworker and GAL anytime about anything. If everyone involved in your case (your caseworker, GAL, and parents) all agree your placement should be changed, it is possible it may be changed without having to go to court. If a hearing is held, talk to your caseworker and GAL about attending so the judge can hear from you about why the placement should be changed.
The amount of time spent in foster care is different for each child. Many people—the judge, your caseworker, your parents, your GAL and others—are working to get you out of care as soon as possible. Tell your caseworker, GAL, and the judge what you want and what is important to you.
Most children return home to their parents, but if your parents or other caregivers can’t provide a safe home for you within a period of time (usually less than two years), then your caseworker will explore other ways for you to live permanently in a family.
LEGAL GUARDIANSHIP: Some children are placed with relatives or family friends who may become your legal guardians, allowing you to still be with family, even if not your parents.
ADOPTION: Some children may be adopted by a relative, their foster family, or another family who wants to adopt a child.
PERMANENT FOSTER CARE: You may live permanently with your foster family, but not be adopted by them. You may remain with the same foster parents (or in another living situation) until you are 21 years old.
If you are still in foster care when you reach 18, you can choose to leave. However, make sure you understand what you are giving up if you leave foster care before age 21.
- Check out “Foster My Future” for more information about Fostering Futures and options after you turn 18. If you are still in foster care when you are 18, you may be able to live with your parents, even if their rights were terminated.
If you are adopted, your adoptive parents become your parents for all purposes.
Normally, when you are adopted, your birth parents’ legal right to contact and visit with you ends.
However, if your adoptive parents, GAL, and judge (and you!) agree it would be good for you to continue to have contact with your birth parents, the judge can make a “Post-Adoption Contact and Communication Agreement” (PACCA) part of your adoption. Then you may have contact with your birth family. Ask your caseworker and GAL about this.
» If you are adopted at age 16 or older, you may still be eligible for some Independent Living services. Contact your caseworker, Independent Living coordinator, or GAL.
If you choose to stay in foster care through “Fostering Futures” until you turn 21, you will continue to receive assistance with housing, education, career training, living needs, and other benefits.
You will also be eligible for college grants and scholarships specifically created for youth in foster care (see “Higher Education” for more information). If you leave foster care at 18 but decide you want to return, contact your caseworker.
» BEFORE you turn 18, be sure you understand all the programs and benefits for youth who remain in foster care until 21.
-Your caseworker must help you to develop a “Transition Plan” at least 90 days before you leave foster care if you will be 18 or older when you leave. You decide what goes in this plan, with the advice of your caseworker and other adults you trust.
-Discuss all the educational funding options available to you before you decide whether or not to leave foster care.
-Your plan should include information and options about housing, health care, education, employment — and finding a mentor.
You have the right to appeal decisions relating to delay, denial, or termination of services. If your caseworker says can’t get services you need, you can appeal to the commissioner. Talk to your GAL about this. You may get help to fill out the Appeal form and submit it.
If you (or a sibling) have not been adopted (or in a pre-adoptive home), are over 14, and it’s been two years or more since your parents’ rights were terminated, it may be possible for your parents’ rights to be restored. Tell your GAL, your caseworker, or the judge that you would like to explore this possibility.
- Once you turn 18, you may have any relationship with your birth parents you wish and can arrange with them. Some youth who choose to remain in foster care till age 21 may be able to live in their birth family’s home while in Fostering Futures.
- If you are over 18 and have not been adopted, it may also be possible for your parents to adopt you as an adult, so that you are legally related to them once again.