Foster a Vunerable Child

there's a child waiting for a family like yours

Why Foster

The average age of a child in foster care is 8 years old.

Children enter into foster care when they are removed from their homes due to various forms of neglect and abuse. Foster families provide a safe place for children to live, be cared for, and be loved while they wait for the possibility of being reunified with their biological family. Foster care is intended to be a short-term solution, while efforts are made to return the child(ren) to their family or place with a relative.

When this is not possible, foster children become available for adoption. There is a great need for foster families in Virginia to open their hearts and homes to caring for these vulnerable children. Families who are open to caring for medically fragile infants, older youth, and for sibling sets are especially needed.

For children who are unable to return home, their option becomes adoption. There are currently more than 177, 000 children in the foster care system waiting to be adopted. There is a great need for families to step into this space. Children who have been in foster care will have experienced loss and trauma which will cause them to have special emotional, behavioral and sometimes physical needs that their adoptive families will need to be prepared to meet.

Many children available for adoption have “special needs” meaning that they will qualify for additional assistance and support to help them in their adoptive placement. “Special Needs” regarding adopted children would refer to specific factors or conditions such as: having a particular racial or ethnic background, being part of a sibling group needing to be placed together as one unit, medical conditions or physical, mental or emotional disabilities that would qualify that child for ongoing medical and/or financial support after the adoption occurs.

In the Diocese of Arlington, Catholic Charities has a program dedicated to finding, training and supporting families who hope to adopt from foster care, called the Waiting Child Adoption Program.

We seek to equip families with the tools and support needed to meet the needs of these children, to create a safe and healing home and help children thrive.

I want to foster

Pathways to Get Involved

Not everyone is called to foster or adopt, but EVERYONE can do something!

Foster families are needed now more than ever to support family reunification and provide children who enter foster care with opportunities to remain connected to their families and home communities.
When considering becoming a foster parent, families can choose to work with their local Department of Social Services (public agency) or work with a Licensed Child Placing Agency in Virginia (private agency)
DSS: In order to connect prospective foster parents with their local departments of social services, Virginia has established the Faster Families Highway. By creating an account, you'll be put on the fastest pathway to becoming a foster parent and beginning your journey of supporting children and families in your local community.
Get Started Today
Child Placing Agency: There are many licensed, private agencies across Northern Virginia that support families interested in foster care and adoption. Private agencies may be able to offer additional services, case management and support to foster families, at no cost to the families. Child placing agencies work with DSS to provide additional placement options for children in foster care.
View the List of Private Agencies
Families open to adopting a child foster child are greatly needed. Today there are more than 117,000 children and teens in foster care who are waiting for the love and security that a permanent home provides.
View some of the children in need of homes today
Catholic Charities’ in the Diocese of Arlington offers a Waiting Child Adoption Program to help families who desire to adopt from the foster care system. Catholic Charities licenses adoptive families to adopt from foster care and helps them to match with children available for adoption in Virginia or in other states. Catholic Charities offers a high level of case management and support to families in this program throughout the matching, placement and adoption process. If you would like to receive more information about this program, please complete an inquiry from:
Inquiry Form
Become a Court Appointed Special Advocate
CASA volunteers are members of the community who receive extensive education and training in order to advocate for abused and neglected children – who through no fault of their own – are thrust into juvenile and domestic relations court and often, into foster care.
CASA volunteers advocate for these children to make sure they don’t get lost in an overburdened system. Their ultimate responsibility is to promote safe, permanent homes as quickly as possible. It is slow, painstaking, and incredibly challenging work, but one child at a time, CASA Volunteers are making a difference in our community.
Learn more about becoming a CASA
Mentor a Youth with Project Belong
Every year, approximately 21,000 young men and women age out of foster care in our country. Outcomes for young adults who age out of foster care are grim, with a high percentage experiencing increasing poverty, early pregnancy, incarceration, forced prostitution, drug and alcohol abuse and joblessness.
Become a Mentoring Adult or Family for a young adult who’s aged out of foster care.
Relationships, even lifelong ones don’t depend on titles, they depend on connection, consistency, and care. We invite you to “step into the story” of an amazing young adult by becoming a Mentoring Adult or Mentoring Family.
Learn more about becoming a mentor
Urgently Needed
Project Belong VA helps churches become places where caring for vulnerable children is part of the church culture.
Become a Care Coordinator at your parish. There is an urgent need for Catholic parishes to partner with Project Belong to bring communities of care to foster and adoptive families.
Through the support of their regional directors, Project Belong helps parishes start care communities to surround families with love and service.
Start a Care Community Today

Foster Care and Adoption Discernment

Praying a novena for discernment can be the first step towards inviting the Lord to open our hearts to hear His will for our families.

Choosing to foster or adopt a child is a deeply personal journey — one that requires you to work closely with child welfare professionals and other members of a team of people working towards the best interests of the child. Becoming a foster/adoptive parent in Virginia requires families to undergo intensive training, self reflections, and what can feel at times like a very intrusive home study process. Once approved, navigating the unknowns of foster care and adoption can be grueling. Knowing how challenging this process can be, it is important for families to be intentional in choosing who they want to partner with to navigate this journey. This blog post, originally published on our Catholic Charities Pregnancy & Adoption Support Blog, shares some important considerations for you to be aware of when looking into different foster/adoption providers.

Discernment Novena Download

Who should we work with to foster / adopt?

Blog post

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Are we being called?

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Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

—James 1:17

Frequently Asked Questions

Let's go over them together

Even if a foster child is only with you for a short time, you may be the one person that can make a positive change in that child’s life forever. By building relationships with biological families, you could continue to have contact with a child even after they successfully reunite with their parents.
A foster child's return home is usually the ultimate goal. The foster parent will have the opportunity to participate in the planning and to say goodbye to the foster child. This can be a difficult time, but the child's return home represents a success.
If you are applying for adoption through a Licensed Child Placing Agency you can be approved to adopt without becoming a foster parent first. However, in Virginia, over 60% of our foster care youth are adopted by their foster parent.
Most foster parents work outside of the home. Discuss child care options available with your local department of social services.