Virginia’s child welfare system is meant to protect children from abuse and neglect, but it can sometimes struggle to provide the safety, stability and permanent homes they need.
In this special report, Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Dave Ress examines the system through the experiences of children, foster families and others working to help. The stories explore where Virginia is falling short, the human consequences of those failures and possible ways forward.
The children, a 5- and 7-year-old brother and sister, had been in the foster care system for two years at that point. They’d already been in seven different placements.Â
Stephanie Lynch, executive director of Virginia Kids Belong: “The child welfare system is so underfunded, the workers are so underpaid. There is just not enough to do the kind of diligent case management that’s required."
Virginia Kids Belong, a nonprofit that tries to find families to love and care for children in foster care, thought you'd like to meet some of the young people they work with.
In a recent series, The Times-Dispatch examined how Virginia responds to suspected abuse and neglect, what happens to children who enter foster care and why results differ so widely among localities.
Henrico County Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor, challenging Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st, in November, tells supporters she'll restore Medicaid funding cut by President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill."
