Virginia Department of Social Services
The Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) is the primary state agency in Virginia’s child welfare system. The duties and responsibilities of VDSS are established by statutes in the Virginia Code and include establishing policies for a variety of benefits and family services programs.
Benefit programs include Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and energy assistance.
Family services programs include Child Protective Services (CPS), foster care and adoption.
The Division of Licensing Programs of VDSS oversees the licensing of foster parents, some children’s residential facilities, child placing agencies. The Division of Child Support Enforcement of VDSS assists parents in seeking and receiving child support for children in their care.
VDSS also oversees a variety of other programs designed to assist families and communities, such as the Community Services Block Grant, the Neighborhood Assistance Program, and refugee resettlement services.
Local Departments of Social Services
Virginia has a “state-supervised, locally-administered” system of providing social services. The State Board of Social Services establishes regulations and VDSS issues statewide policies governing the provision of social services. However, the actual provision of social services, such CPS and foster care services, is administered by the local departments of social services (LDSS) under the authority of the local board of social services and their locality’s governing body (boards of supervisors for counties, city councils for cities). VDSS has limited authority over the LDSS to enforce its regulations and policies.
Cross-agency Collaboration
The work of LDSS often requires collaboration with other agencies. Child protective services may collaborate with local law enforcement to investigate acts of child abuse. A child in foster care may require unique or specialized services for which the local Family Assessment and Planning Team (FAPT) may review and authorize funding through the Children’s Services Act. Caseworkers, or Family Services Specialists, for children in foster care will work with local school divisions to ensure the child attends the right school, has transportation, and receives special education assessments if necessary. LDSS prevention services workers may coordinate mental health or substance abuse services for families with the local community services board.
Court Proceedings
In some cases, the circumstances require the LDSS to initiate court action in order to protect a child. In these situations, the LDSS will file a petition in the local juvenile and domestic relations district court alleging that the child is an abused or neglected child. The LDSS may ask the court to issue a preliminary child protective order or to grant the LDSS authority to remove the child from his or her home.
Preliminary Protective Orders. If a PPO is sought, the LDSS is not asking for the child to be removed from the home, but for the court to order the parents and family to abide by certain conditions or to engage in certain services that would help keep the child safe at home. Another hearing may be scheduled for the judge to decide whether the child was abused or neglected. This is called the Adjudicatory Hearing. If the judge finds that the child was abused or neglected, another hearing will be held within 60 days of the date of the first hearing when the PPO was entered by the court. This is called the Dispositional Hearing. The judge may order further conditions or services for the family, limit contact between the child and parent or other adult in the home, or, if there is no less drastic alternative, transfer custody of the child to a relative or fictive kin of the child, the LDSS, or other child welfare agency.
Removal Orders. If the LDSS is asking the court to grant it authority to remove the child, it may first seek an Emergency Removal Order. Sometimes, immediate removal is necessary to protect the child, so the LDSS may remove the child prior to going to court without prior approval of the child’s parents or guardians if “the circumstances of the child are such that continuing in his place of residence or in the care of custody of the parent, guardian, custodian or other person responsible for the child’s care, presents an imminent danger to the child’s life or health to the extent that severe or irremediable injury would be likely to result or if evidence of abuse is perishable or subject to deterioration before a hearing can be held.” (Virginia Code § 63.2-1517.)
If the LDSS removes the child, the LDSS must notify the parents as soon as practicable and must file for an Emergency Removal Order no later than 72 hours after they removed the child.
After the ERO is entered, a Preliminary Removal Order (PRO) hearing must be held within 5 business days. When a petition is filed by the LDSS with the juvenile and domestic relations district court and requests a ERO, PRO, or PPO, many courts will appoint lawyers to represent each parent, a guardian ad litem to represent the child, and, if available, a court-appointed special advocate for the case.
Just as in Preliminary Protective Orders, another hearing may be scheduled for the judge to decide whether the child was abused or neglected. This is called the Adjudicatory Hearing and must be held within 30 days of the Preliminary Removal Order hearing. If the judge finds that the child was abused or neglected, another hearing will be held within 60 days of the date of the order removing the child. This is called the Dispositional Hearing. The judge may order further conditions or services for the family, limit contact between the child and parent or other adult in the home, or, if there is no less drastic alternative, transfer custody of the child to a relative or fictive kin of the child, the LDSS, or other child welfare agency.
More information about court proceedings can be found in the Handbook for Parents and Guardians in Child Dependency Cases.