Adoption

The Adoption Program strives to achieve and maintain adoptive placements for children in foster care whose parent's parental rights have been terminated. Children in the program may range in age from infant to 18 and the goal for the child must be adoption. Adoption assistance may be available to adoptive parents for services and support. 

A home study will be completed for a foster parent who wishes to adopt a foster child into their home. In addition to foster care case management services, adoption family service workers recruit adoptive families through advertising, adoption parties, and collaboration with other agencies. Staff also supervise adoption placements, make referrals, prepare court reports and attend hearings. 

For information on adoption services, please call (804)646-7475. 

Adult Protective Services

Adult Protective Services investigates reports of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of adults 60 years of age or older and incapacitated adults age 18 or older. If protective services are needed and accepted by the individual, a wide range of services to stop the mistreatment or prevent further mistreatment are available. These services include social and legal services, emergency assistance and assistance in obtaining other forms of substitute decision making, including guardianship. 

For more information about Adult Protective Services, or to report suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation during regular business hours, please call (804) 646-7405. 

If you are attempting to report a concern after business hours or a concern about an adult who does not live in the Richmond City area, you should call (888) 832-3858. 

Find an Assisted Living Facility.
 

Adult Services

Adult Services are services provided to single adults age 18 or older with no minor children and who are disabled, elderly or homeless. Adult Services (AS) are designed to allow the adult to remain in the least restrictive setting and function as independently as possible by establishing and/or strengthening appropriate family and social support systems or by supporting the adult in self-determination. 

Adult Services provides: Intake and Assessment Services, Screenings for Assisted Living Facilities, Screening for Medicaid Waiver Services, Home-Based Care Management and Monitoring, Information & Referrals to community partners, transportation assistance to medical care and/or new employment, and other activities to aid the adult. 

For more information about the services available, please call (804)646-8865. 

Child Protective Services

The Child Protective Services Program documents, assesses and investigates reports of alleged child abuse and/or neglect. In order for Child Protective Services to accept and respond to a report, it must be considered valid in all four of the following validity criteria: The alleged victim child or children are under the age of 18 at the time of the complaint/report, the alleged abuser must be a caretaker of the child; and, the circumstances/complaint alleges child abuse and/or neglect as defined in the Code of Virginia and in guidance established by the Virginia Department of Social Services. 

Child Protective Services strives to provide children with a stable and safe home environment. When possible, staff will work to preserve the family by enhancing the parent's ability to provide care for their child and reducing the risk of future abuse or neglect. A full range of services is available to families involved with Child Protective Services including referrals for parenting education, substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, counseling, medical assistance, financial assistance, budgeting, housing assistance and mentoring programs. 

For more information about Child Protective Services, or to report suspected child abuse or neglect during regular business hours, please call (804) 646-0438. 

If you are attempting to report a concern after business hours or a concern about a child who does not live in the City of Richmond area, you should call (800) 552-7096. 

Early Childhood Development Initiative

Learning begins before children enter school. 

We help ensure that Richmond’s children ages 0-5 are born healthy, 
well-cared for and enter school ready to learn. 

A BABY’s brain is eager to learn at birth! Important development and learning occur long before children enter school. To create a strong body and smart brain, children need good nutrition, exercise and a safe, healthy environment to thrive and grow. 

What every child needs – Reading, quality care, communication, stable relationships, play, safety, love, laughter and music. 

The Richmond Early Childhood Development Initiative (ECDI) works with parents, home visiting organizations and community groups to help families in two (2) areas: 

Parenting Education / Educación para padres 

We provide parenting workshops at various locations throughout the city in partnership with community organizations.

We offer the Nurturing Parenting Program Series, a free, 15-week, evidenced-based parenting program for Richmond parents, grandparents and others caring for children ages 0–5 years. 

Single session parenting workshops are also available on such topics as The Power of Play, Music is Magic; Routines; Rules and Rituals; Emotions, Food, Fun and Family and Discipline – “To Teach.” All workshops are free of charge and include child care and other incentives. 

For more information on all programs and services offered by the City of Richmond Early Childhood Development, contact Program Coordinator: Karen Christian: (804) 646-3601 or karen.christian@richmondgov.com

Program Manager Early Childhood Initiative: Rose Stith Singleton: (804) 646-3784 or rose.singleton@richmondgov.com

Home Visitation / Casa Visitas 

We strengthen and expand the impact of FREE home visiting services by increasing the number of at-risk families enrolled in home visiting programs, strengthening relationships between home visiting agencies, providing additional training to home visitors, and operating the Richmond Home Visiting Referral Center that matches families with a home visiting program that best meets their needs. 

The Richmond Home Visiting Referral Center for a brochure and application. 

Brochure                    Application 

Comuníquese con el Centro de Referencia de Visitas al Hogar de la Ciudad de Richmond al (804) 646-3601 para pedir un folleto y un formulario de solicitud. 

Brochure                    Application 

For more information on all program and services offered by the City of Richmond Early Childhood Development, contact Program Coordinator: Karen Christian: (804) 646-3601 or karen.christian@richmondgov.com

Program Manager Early Childhood Initiative: Rose Stith Singleton: (804)646-3784 or rose.singleton@richmondgov.com

Family Preservation Services

Family Preservation Services provides assistance to families with children who are in need of emergency and supportive services. The focus of service delivery is to strengthen families to enable them to remain independent in their homes and to keep children safe and well. 

Through the program, staff will address concerns identified by the family and provide services to minimize risk of homelessness, improve family communication, meet family goals and prevent out of home placement of children. A family services worker will assess the situation, develop a service plan with the family around their identified needs and provide appropriate referrals and emergency interventions as required. The family services worker may also collaborate with court, schools, counselors and other professionals in service planning and delivery.

For more information on the services available, please call (804)646-0180.

Foster Care

Foster Care manages the provision of services and treatment to a child who is in the legal custody of the Department due to abuse/neglect or the need for services. To be placed in foster care, the child must have been placed in the Department's custody by a Virginia court. Services are provided to the child and to the family to prevent further need for foster placement, and to achieve permanency.

For more information on the Foster Care Program, please call (804)646-7502. 

Resource Family

The Resource Family Unit is responsible for the recruitment, training, support, and placement coordination for the Department’s foster and adoptive families. Members of this team recruit qualified families from the Richmond community and surrounding areas (within an hour radius) to serve as foster and/or adoptive parents to the children in care. 

The Department provides the following services to individuals interested in becoming a foster parent: 

• Free Training 
• One-on-one assistance from a family services worker to complete the process 
• A series of home visits and interviews to help each family determine the type of child they feel they can best parent 
• Monthly ongoing training and other special events throughout the year 

The Resource Family unit is also responsible for locating placements for children who enter foster care, or when a change in placement is required. 

If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a foster parent for the City of Richmond, please call (804)646-KIDS (5437). 

Healthy Families Richmond

The Healthy Families Program is an intensive home visiting program for families with prenatal children who reside in the East District and in the Southside of Richmond. Home Visitors work with enrolled families until the target child is three years of age. The program is designed for parents facing challenges such as single parenthood; low income; childhood history of abuse and other adverse child experiences; and current or previous issues related to substance abuse, mental health issues, and/or domestic violence. The Healthy Families Program is also committed to establishing relationships with community partners who serve prenatal and post natal families to improve and enhance client services. There are several designated referral sites throughout the City of Richmond which include: hospitals, medical offices, local schools and family resource centers. 

Services provided include but are not limited to: screenings and assessments to determine if families are at risk for child maltreatment or other adverse childhood experiences; home visiting services; parent support groups; routine screening for child development and maternal depression and community-based referrals. 

To make referrals, please contact 804-646-3022 

Program Manager: Jo Anne Robertson 804-646-3306 

Program Supervisor: Stacy Carpenter 804-646-0590 

Richmond Healthy Start Initiative

The Richmond Healthy Start Initiative (RHSI) is dedicated to ensuring that low-income and disadvantaged women receive the services they need to support a healthy pregnancy, a healthy birth and a healthy baby. As such, we work to reduce low birth weight, prematurity, SIDS/SUIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome/Sudden Unexplained Infant Death) and other poor birth outcomes for women, infants and their families. RHSI’s over-arching goal is to establish a comprehensive, coordinated and community-focused approach to address these issues. Using an intensive home-visiting model, RHSI seeks to eliminate structural, financial, and personal barriers which the Institute of Medicine says negatively impacts maternal and child health. 

Family Support Services provided through Healthy Start include: 

• Case Management & Care Coordination 
• Health and Psychosocial Screening & Assessment 
• Risk Reduction / Motivational Interviewing 
• Parenting Education 
• Nutrition Education 

Program Coordinator: Marilyn Wenner (804) 646-3740 or marilyn.wenner@richmondgov.com

Program Manager: Rose Stith Singleton (804) 646-3784 or rose.singleton@richmondgov.com

Homeless Services

City of Richmond Outreach Program: Conducts outreach to connect single homeless adults in the City of Richmond to permanent housing and safety net programs designed to assist in household stability.

The Housing Code Enforcement & Counseling Program: Provides housing counseling as well as immediate interventions to the citizens of Richmond who are displaced due to housing code violations, specifically landlord neglect.

Cold Weather Overflow Shelter: The Cold Weather Overflow Shelter is a seasonal last resort shelter that serves predominantly homeless adults. The shelter operates when the outdoor temperature is forecast at 40º (Fahrenheit) or below; dates of operation are October 1st-April 15th.

For more information about the services available, please call (804)646-3111.