Pursuant to paragraph G of § 2.2-447 of the Code of Virginia, the Children’s Ombudsman “shall submit to the Governor, the director of the Department, and the General Assembly an annual report on the Ombudsman’s activities, including any recommendations regarding the need for legislation or for a change in rules or policies." This Annual Report covers our work during State Fiscal Year 2024, which began on July 1, 2023, and ended on June 30, 2024.

Legislative Advocacy. In FY2024, the OCO advocated for legislation and state budget appropriations in two major areas of Virginia’s child welfare system: kinship care and legal representation for parents involved in child dependency cases. Senate Bill 39 and House Bill 27 created a program to support relatives and close family friends to care for children who would otherwise enter foster care. The bills were amended to create a more robust and comprehensive plan for at-risk children to be placed with relatives within and without the foster care system. House Bill 893 included provisions increasing the maximum amount of compensation for attorneys appointed to represent parents and directing the Judicial Council to develop and adopt standards of qualification and performance for such attorneys.

Complaints and Investigations. The OCO receives complaints with respect to children who (i) are receiving child protective services (CPS), (ii) are in foster care, or (iii) are awaiting adoption. The OCO can investigate complaints that allege that administrative acts taken regarding such children were contrary to law, rule, or policy; imposed without an adequate statement of reason; or based on irrelevant, immaterial, or erroneous grounds.

In FY2024, the OCO received 487 complaints. Ninety-two of Virginia’s 120 local departments of social services were the subject of the complaints we received during FY 2024. We received one complaint about a licensed child placing agency. The OCO initiated 28 formal investigations.

Child Fatalities. Pursuant to subsection B of Va. Code § 2.2-443, the OCO may investigate child fatality cases that occurred or are alleged to have occurred due to child abuse or child neglect and the family has had prior involvement with child protective services or foster care. In FY2024, the OCO received 54 notifications of such child fatalities. Thirty of the 54 children (56%) were aged 6 months or younger. In 24 cases (44%), unsafe sleep practices or conditions were reported at the time of the child’s death. In 17 cases (31%), the family had a history of domestic violence. In nine cases (17%), the parents were reported to have had untreated or undertreated mental health conditions. In 16 cases (30%), the decedent child was reported as being born substance exposed. In 25 cases (46%), the children’s parents or caregivers were reported to have had a history of substance use, including at the time of the child’s death. In all but one of these 25 cases, the decedent children were 4 years of age or younger. Unsafe sleep conditions were reported in 12 of these 25 cases.

Recommendations for System Changes.

1. Foster Care Placement Changes. Since this Office opened three years ago, we continually receive complaints alleging that local departments are often making foster care placement decisions with little to no planning and for questionable reasons. In these cases, we find that the local departments failed to comply with the state policy guidance for placement changes, which promotes a shared decision-making process to ensure that the children’s best interests are protected, to establish case participants’ expectations for the transition, and to mitigate the trauma and loss the children and foster family will suffer from the placement change. We recommend that local departments establish strict protocols and supervisory review when placement changes are being contemplated. We also recommend that VDSS regional permanency consultants provide additional oversight over local departments’ placement decisions to ensure compliance with the state policy guidance.

2. Children entering Foster Care due to behavioral health challenges. We reviewed several cases in which the primary reason the child entered foster care was the child’s own behavioral health issues. Practices in such cases need to acknowledge the parents’ role in achieving permanency instead of treating them as if they maltreated the child. We recommend that VDSS and local departments establish policy guidance addressing best practices and protocols for managing these cases to ensure that parents are included in service planning, placement decisions, and discharge planning when children are admitted in residential treatment. Visitation arrangements should be commensurate with the circumstances of the child’s treatment and not limited in frequency or duration as if contact with the parent was a safety risk. No decisions regarding the child’s treatment, services, or placement should be made without the parents’ involvement.

3. Communication with families. We investigated several cases in which communication problems between the agencies and parents or relatives created unnecessary conflict or detrimentally affected the outcome of the case. We recommend that local departments establish clear expectations for communication with parents and other parties by CPS and foster care workers and family services specialists. Workers should respond to families in a timely manner and with communication that is clear and tailored to the recipient’s role and level of understanding of the case. Local departments should establish specific protocols for workers’ use of text and email communications to ensure meaningful responsiveness, timeliness, and clarity.

4. MDTs and Joint Child Abuse Investigations. In our review of cases, we found that several jurisdictions’ Multidisciplinary Teams for the investigation of child sexual abuse cases required by statute were not functioning effectively or at all. As a result, there was very little collaboration between the local child protective services staff and law enforcement in investigations of child sexual abuse.

We recommend that local departments of social services review their policies regarding MDTs, forensic interviews of children, and joint investigations with law enforcement and take affirmative steps to ensure that proper procedures are in place and that a Memorandum of Understanding or Agreement has been developed with law enforcement and the Child Advocacy Center serving the locality that sets out the expectations and responsibilities of each when jointly investigating child abuse cases; and to work with the local Commonwealth’s Attorney to ensure that the locality’s MDT is functioning effectively according to statute. Local departments should also ensure that its CPS workers are aware of and familiar with the policies and procedures related to MDTs and joint investigations.

5. Housing Support for Families and Youth Aging out of Foster Care. State leaders and policy makers should consider taking legislative or administrative action to facilitate access to housing vouchers available under the HUD’s Family Unification Program and Foster Youth to Independence initiative for DSS-involved families with housing challenges and youth aging out of foster care. Considerations should be made to designate VDSS as the entity that can enter Memoranda of Understanding on behalf of the 120 local departments of social services with the several local Public Housing Authorities throughout the Commonwealth to help address the challenges identified by the VDSS work group studying the issue.

6. Substance Exposed Infants and Plans of Safe Care. Substance exposed infants and parents with a history of substance use present in an alarming number of cases in the child fatality notifications we receive. From our discussions with key stakeholders, including local departments of social services and health care professionals, and from our reviews of child fatality cases, it is evident that there is significant confusion about our current laws and policies for the reporting of substance exposed infants to CPS and that implementation of Plans of Safe Care is inconsistent throughout the state. The Virginia Department of Health has resumed statewide efforts to ensure the robust implementation and development of Plans of Safe Care. This work must continue with the engagement of all necessary stakeholders, including state and local social services representatives, state and local behavioral health agencies, state and local health agencies, private health and mental health care providers, and private family/early childhood serving agencies.

7. Safe and Sound Task Force Initiatives. The Safe and Sound Task Force was convened to address the issue of children in foster care with high acuity behavioral health needs sleeping in social services offices, hospital emergency rooms, and hotels because there were no approved placements available. The OCO recommends that state leaders take the following measures to sustain the Task Force’s interagency and cross-Secretariat collaborative efforts and to fill the gaps in the state’s array of approved foster care placements: (i) Designate DBHDS as the lead agency to collaborate and enter into interagency agreements with the VDSS, DMAS, DJJ, and the Office of Children’s Services. (ii) Create a Children’s Cabinet that can be authorized to direct agencies to take preventative measures for emergent issues and to quickly mobilize agencies and stakeholders into action to address systemic crises. (iii) Direct state and local agencies to take necessary steps to make Sponsored Residential homes more accessible for foster care purposes and to increase providers’ capacity to accept children in foster care with behavioral health needs. (iv) Appropriate additional funding to support the Enhanced Treatment Foster Care model of foster homes. (v) Explore program models for the establishment of a state-run program that can provide supportive and safe housing for youth in foster care on a temporary basis as a step-down from PRTFs and to give local departments time to identify an appropriate family and access to necessary wrap-around services.

8. Legal Representation in Child Welfare Cases. To improve the quality of legal representation for parents and children involved in child welfare cases, the OCO recommends the following: (i) Establish a state-level Parents Advocacy Commission with similar functions as the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission to provide oversight and training for attorneys that are appointed to represent parents. (ii) Implement a system of providing legal counsel for parents involved in CPS matters prior to the initiation of court proceedings. (iii) Consider legislative and budgetary measures to address the rate of compensation for guardians ad litem for children and to review the GAL Standards of Qualification and Performance for any needed revisions to improve the quality of representation for children.

9. Investments in Prevention and Protection. Federal funding for prevention and child protection programs is set to be significantly reduced. State leaders should consider making appropriate budgetary investments to ensure that these programs can continue and expand their important work: (i) Family Resource Centers support families’ ability to safely raise healthy children by providing supports and resources in the areas of parenting education, workforce development, assisting with concrete needs like food and housing, health services, transportation, and other community services. (ii) Court Appointed Special Advocate programs provide specially trained volunteers appointed by the courts in child welfare cases to gather and report valuable information to assist the court in making decisions supporting children’s best interests. (iii) Child Advocacy Centers provide a safe space for children to be forensically interviewed for criminal and civil abuse and neglect investigations. They also provide therapeutic services to help children heal and help families navigate the criminal and CPS processes.