The 2024 Appropriation Act, Item 329.F. provides funding to increase the number of finalized adoptions of children and youth with special needs. These are children with significant behavioral or medical challenges who tend to be older, in foster care longer, and who have had multiple foster care placements.

The Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) has implemented pilot programs focused on increasing the number adoptions of children in foster care. Faster Families Highway (“the Highway"), a recruitment portal project focusing on recruiting foster families, is demonstrating great success. Since its launch in SFY23, 120 Local Departments of Social Services (LDSS) have used the online portal to identify appropriate foster families for children in care. As of March 31, 2024, 3,445 potential foster families have entered “the Highway"; of these, 735 were recruited and 93 were approved.

Another pilot project, Weekend Miracles®, began in March 2024. VDSS entered a partnership with Kidsave International to introduce their evidence-informed program Weekend Miracles in Virginia. Weekend Miracles gives older kids in foster care, who have had multiple foster home placements or reside in congregate care, a say in their future by meeting with families at match events.

SFY 2024 appropriated funds were also used to host successful training conferences that continued to advance the work being completed with Adoption-Share and Adoption Resource Exchange of VA (AREVA). VDSS also utilized funding to support dedicated placement staff and hire a public relations and marketing expert to support the many Permanency promotional campaigns.