ROANOKE, Va. – There are about 800 children who are ready for adoption in Virginia. They are ready to find a permanent and loving forever family. 10 News is highlighting one child who needs a home every day in November during 30 Days of Hope. The children are of all ages and races and were put into foster care due to no fault of their own. 2024 marks the eighth year 10 News is doing this series.
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Hundreds of kids can be adopted right now in Virginia, and many of them are from right here in our region.
There are about 4,800 kids in foster care right now in Virginia. The children are of all ages and races and were put into foster care due to no fault of their own.
About 800 of those kids can be adopted and just want a family to support them.
10 News is excited to bring you 30 Days of Hope again because every year it results in more families signing up to be foster parents and more kids getting adopted. More than 500 families asked for more information after seeing the stories on 10 News in November 2023. Two of the children we featured last year are going into placements that are adoptive homes!
Last year, 759 kids were adopted across the Commonwealth! Many of those are from our region, with Piedmont seeing 207 adoptions and Western seeing 183 adoptions.
“30 Days of Hope brings awareness to adoption, and more importantly, it features children who are available for adoption and in need of permanent, loving families,” said Chris Claiborne, VDSS adoption recruitment coordinator. “For the last seven years, it has definitely been a huge success!”
“If a family or anybody wants to make a difference, I feel like fostering and adopting is a really good way to go about that. We have so many kids in the system,” said Natalie Spears, a Family Services Specialist with the Pittsylvania County Department of Social Services who works with children in foster care. “I feel like if at least just a few families decide to take their time and foster or adopt, I think it could make a really big difference, and maybe there won’t be so many kids stuck in the system. It’s often very much a never-ending cycle. A lot of these kids, their parents were in foster care too, and it’s just a never-ending cycle. If we could break that cycle, that would be a great thing.”
Roanoke City still has the most children in care, even though we don’t have the biggest population. Lynchburg and Roanoke County are also in the top ten.
| City or County | Number of Children in Foster Care (Oct 2024) | Percentage of Total Children in VA Foster Care |
|---|---|---|
| Roanoke City | 289 | 5.4% |
| Fairfax County | 247 | 4.6% |
| Richmond City | 239 | 4.5% |
| Norfolk | 223 | 4.2% |
| Lynchburg | 199 | 3.7% |
| Virginia Beach | 190 | 3.5% |
| Henrico | 174 | 3.2% |
| Rockingham County | 172 | 3.2% |
| Roanoke County | 111 | 2.1% |
| Chesterfield County | 107 | 2% |
Teens are some of the hardest kids to place but Claiborne said it shouldn’t be like that.
“Currently we’re seeing our 12 to 17-year-old children stay in foster care longer. They seem to be a little more difficult to place with families. A lot of the families want younger children. There seems to be a lot of hesitancy around fostering teens, for some reason,” said Claiborne. “It’s tough for them. They’re separated from their families. Emotionally, that’s hard when you think about being away from where you’ve been your whole life, and so helping them get a sense of belonging.”
To be a foster parent, you don’t have to live in a big house or have a bunch of money. You can be married or single and live in a house or an apartment.
“That part of it doesn’t really matter, as long as you are a resident of Virginia, over the age of 18 and have adequate space in your home and [are] willing to be able to meet the physical and emotional needs of a child. That’s really what we’re looking for,” said Claiborne.
Spears said it is amazing when children are adopted.
“I think it’s what these kids deserve. They deserve normalcy. They deserve to feel like they’re regular kids and not be labeled as foster kids because a lot of these kids get tired of being seen as different and being labeled different,” said Spears.
Ready to take the next step?
Frequently asked questions about foster care and adoption in Virginia can be found here.
If you have questions about foster care/adoption or are interested in starting the process, contact the VDSS Division of Family Services Adoption Recruitment Coordinator at adoptioninquiries@dss.virginia.gov.
To see all the 30 Days of Hope stories and children we are featuring, visit us here.