Virginia
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Pre-Service Training

The 27-hour Parent Resource for Information, Development and Education (PRIDE) pre-service curriculum is made available to Local Departments of Social Services (LDSS) that wish to use this as their foster and adoptive training curriculum. LDSS that do not use PRIDE are able to purchase or develop an alternative curriculum and submit a copy to the Virginia Department of Social Services for approval. Agency-approved provider regulations require specific core competencies consistent with the PRIDE pre-service curriculum.

Relative caregivers in Virginia are trained using the 27-hour A Tradition of Caring (Kinship PRIDE).

Families in Virginia are dually approved and trained as foster and adoptive parents. Virginia does not require additional training for families transitioning to adoption or guardianship. However, an Adoption Home Study Addendum is completed with the family to assess their readiness for adoption and identify any additional needs or supports in preparation for adoption.

Services Offered Through the State’s Post-Permanency Support Program

Post-adoption support services in Virginia are provided through a Regional Post-Adoption Consortium (RPAC) model funded by the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) through contracts with three private agencies serving five regions.

Services include:

Families can be referred to RPAC services before finalization as long as the child’s parental rights have been terminated and they have a signed adoption placement agreement.

Families that begin post-adoption case management and/or counseling services with an RPAC receive assessments of the family’s strengths, needs, and functioning that lead into service or treatment planning. Each of the RPACs may do this a little differently. For example, in the Northern region, families complete the FACES-IV at intake as well as a broad social assessment of family dynamics and history. Agencies in the other regions have developed their own assessment tools.

RPACs provide either information and referral or comprehensive case management services. Comprehensive case management includes advocacy, personalized family plan development and coordination with other service providers. Families receiving case management services typically meet with a case manager once per month. Some families may meet with a case manager weekly, while others may meet far less often.

RPACs have licensed clinical social workers who provide counseling to families. Mental health assessments and services for parents, children, and families are provided by an adoption-competent mental health provider. RPAC provides in-person and teletherapy services.

The Western and Piedmont RPAC provides limited preventive family engagement services where families receive individualized in-home education and support related to strengthening relationships, improving communication, and developing structure.

Some RPACs provide limited crisis intervention to support adoptive families. However, they generally request adoptive families reach out to emergency services for immediate safety issues if crisis intervention services cannot immediately de-escalate the situation.

All RPACs offer parent-led peer support groups and therapist-led youth support groups throughout the year. During these groups, adoptive families share experiences, concerns, insights and resources with their peers. Support group topics offered vary by RPAC and sometimes include psychoeducation on specific topics.

RPACs may provide educational advocacy, including attending IEP meetings at the family’s request and exploring educational resources.

RPACs provide limited drop-off parent relief, family fun events, and planned activities. The RPACs ensure that there are no financial barriers to participation for families.

All RPACs provide information and referral services, including referral to available community resources and crisis services. The Western and Piedmont RPAC also has an adoption lending library of books and DVDs.

All RPACs provide educational and training opportunities in person and virtually. Each year, there is a free Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) for professionals to increase the adoption competence of mental health professionals in hard-to-service regions of the Commonwealth.

RPACs host in-person and virtual community building and family events such as paint parties, zoo trips, baseball games, etc.

In fiscal year 2023, RPACs served 694 families.

For more information, visit: https://www.dss.virginia.gov/nam/index.html#consider_adoption

Geographic Area Covered

Post-adoption services in Virginia are offered statewide through five RPACs: Northern, Western, Piedmont, Central and Eastern. Three private agencies are contracted as the lead agency to serve the five regions. Virginia DSS hosts a website for families to locate their local RPAC.

While all regions provide case management services, support groups, training, and family events, services are slightly different depending on the geographic region and lead agency.

Eligible Population for the Overall Post-Permanency Program

  • All families who adopted from the state’s foster care system

  • All families who adopted through intercountry adoption and reside in Virginia

  • All families who adopted through private adoption and reside in Virginia

  • All families who adopted from foster care in other states, territories, or tribes

Variations in Eligibility for the Post-Permanency Program

Adoptive families residing in Virginia are eligible for services up to the adoptee’s 21st birthday provided the adoptee is still living at home with their adoptive family.

Families can be referred to RPAC services prior to finalization as long as the child’s parental rights have been terminated and a signed placement agreement is in force.

Accessibility

RPACs may use interpreters and tele-interpretation services as needed.

Some RPACs provide specialized activities to support families of color and interracial adoptive families or services for LGBTQ2S+ families and youth.

Kinship caregivers have access to kinship navigator services that are separate from the RPACs.

Outreach and Engagement

The Central, Eastern, and Northern RPACs have a dedicated outreach liaison who reaches out to LDSS offices, community entities, and families. The Western/Piedmont region does outreach using case managers. Some of the outreach methods used are:

  • the distribution and drop-off of flyers at community locations
  • visiting LDSS regularly to inform new staff of available post-adoption services and the referral process
  • hosting presentations at regional schools and community groups to promote services
  • maintaining email lists to inform families and referral sources of future RPAC happenings

Referrals to RPACs can come from LDSS offices, families themselves, and community entities.

Virginia DSS requires some metrics regarding outreach effort effectiveness from each RPAC. RPACs are required to report the number of outreach efforts conducted quarterly for each targeted group (non-RPAC families, LDSS, and community entities) and the number of new families that contacted a RPAC for services as a result of the outreach effort.

How the Post-Permanency Program Is Operated

  • Through contracts or grants with multiple private agencies that offer mostly the same set of services, each operating in a different region

Notes About Who Provides Which Service(s)

The three lead agencies providing RPAC services are:

  • The Center for Adoption Support and Education for the Northern region.
  • DePaul Community Resources for the Western and Piedmont region.
  • United Methodist Family Services of Virginia (UMFS) for the Central and Eastern region.

The agencies may have subcontracts or grants with other providers to ensure services are provided across Virginia.

LDSS staff may occasionally provide support, but more typically will refer families to the RPACs.

Adoption/Guardianship Assistance/Subsidy Review and Changes

Virginia reviews existing adoption assistance agreements and kinship guardianship agreements annually. The LDSS will notify the adoptive parents or guardians in writing two months before the anniversary date of when the assistance agreement was effective. The adoptive parents or guardians submit the annual affidavit to the LDSS within 30 days of the anniversary date.

A parent can request a change in the adoption assistance agreement or kinship guardianship assistance agreement whenever there are changes in the child’s condition or the parents’ circumstances that warrant a change in the assistance. To request a change, the family should contact the LDSS that is a party to the agreement and submit the Request for Addendum to Virginia Adoption Assistance Agreement form.

Tracking Adoption/Guardianship Discontinuity

The state tracks when children who were adopted or placed in guardianship re-enter care through Oasis, the comprehensive child welfare information system. This includes information about children adopted privately or through intercountry adoption. Adoption assistance consultants track when adoption subsidy is used to fund residential care for children who were receiving adoption assistance.

Post-Permanency Program Spending (FY 2023)

  • $2 million – $4,999,999 million

Funding Sources for the Post-Permanency Program (FY 2023)

  1. Adoption savings (reported on CB 496 Part 4 – Annual Adoption Savings Report)

 

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