Children in foster homes may have experienced neglect or health and safety issues while living with their biological parents. To provide them with a caring environment, the Virginia Department of Social Services may place them with temporary foster parents.
According to the VDSS website, the primary goal of foster care is to help children reunite with responsible family members. Nearly one-third of Virginia’s foster children return to their families. Some children may move in with a relative. Other children may find foster homes or adoptive families more comfortable.
Each foster child has unique circumstances and reasons for moving in with a temporary family. The VDSS encourages foster parents to team up with biological families to resolve the differences that required placing children in temporary homes.
Some foster children and parents form strong ties and may wish to make their arrangement permanent. Foster parents, for example, offer emotional support and assistance that helps kids to overcome personal challenges. Foster parents permanently adopt more than half of Virginia’s foster care youth.
Virginia’s statutes allow individuals to adopt children through agency placements. A local department of social services often serves as a good place to start the process. Individuals may also find children through non-agency adoptions. As noted by the VDSS, biological parents or relatives may initiate the placement process.
As reported by WSLS 10 news, individuals must pass a background check and complete training to foster or adopt children. They may also need to pass physical health exams and have updated immunizations.
Foster and adoptive families could provide healthy environments for kids to overcome the issues affecting them. With support from qualified adoptive or foster parents, children could make progress in a way not possible while living with their original families.
In my years of practicing law, I've seen many legal changes and their impacts on the lives of my clients. One such change is the Dobbs ruling which has the potential to affect assisted reproductive technologies (ART), particularly in vitro fertilization (IVF).
