Older Children Need Homes too! Adopt a waiting Child at CHSVA

Rumors

The rumors you’ve heard aren’t true.

“It’s been wonderful. I love being a parent. I really love knowing that when you give a child a home, you give them the chance to thrive." – Michelle Samms, adoptive mother   

“Having a mom is great. It’s lots more fun now. But mostly, I have love.”   – 9-year-old Namon, adopted in 2008.  

“Adoption has been a wonderful experience. It has closed that hole that was in my heart. Our family is now complete.” – Allison Smith, adoptive parent   

Adopting an older child from the foster care system isn’t as scary as you think. These are not “damaged” children. They are in the foster care system through no fault of their own, the victims of abuse or neglect. They simply long for a place to call home.To adopt a child from foster care, you don’t have to be perfect. But you do have to act. In Virginia, nearly 1,500 children are waiting for a permanent, loving home. To them, the wait seems like forever.

Virginia Children Adoption
Who are these children? Their stories are compelling and varied – a 15-year-old victim of sexual abuse, a baby abandoned at the hospital when born with medical disabilities, the 9- and 11-year-old siblings whose greatest fear, after enduring neglect, is that they might be separated.

Adoption offers these children the chance to prosper and grow – to reach their potential in life. But in Virginia, more children age out of foster care than any other state. 21% reach age 18 without being adopted. On their own, 1 in 4 will end up in jail within 2 years of leaving foster care; 1 in 5 will become homeless; fewer than 1 in 6 will earn a high school degree.

Virginia Children Adoption
Do you have room in your heart for a child in need?
Consider this:

  • Adopting a child from foster care is less expensive than you think. Through the Partnership for Adoptions program at Children’s Home Society, it is virtually free.
  • CHS will provide eight weeks of free training to parent a child who has experienced abuse. The training is led by CHS social workers and professionals from the mental health field.
  • The biological parents cannot regain custody of the child because parental rights have been terminated.
  • Children from foster care are provided free tuition for two years to community college.
  • Monthly stipends from the Department of Social Services are available to families adopting from foster care.
  • CHS provides a lifetime of support to families.
  • A child in foster care can wait up to five years to be adopted. *
  • On any given day in North America, nearly 600,000 children are in the foster care system, and more than 150,000 of them are available for adoption. *

 * The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

Meet families already enjoying the gift of adoption.

 

Want to learn more?

Attend one of our orientations
or contact Laura Ash-Brackley
at (804) 353-0191 or ashbrackleyl@chsva.org.