Adoption Services

Lutheran Family Services of Virginia's Adoption Program provides permanent, stable, and caring homes for children born domestically. Adoption home studies are offered for prospective parents adopting from other countries.
        
Lutheran Family Services of Virginia will work with all qualified Virginia residents regardless of gender, disability, racial, ethnic, or religious background. Services are available to married couples, single, divorced, or widowed persons.

Services Provided by Lutheran Family Services of Virginia

Home Studies are conducted with prospective adoptive parents by a social worker. Home studies are required by the Commonwealth of Virginia and ensure a stable environment for the adopted child.

Parental Placement Adoption Services provide the simultaneous visit between birth and adoptive parents, supervision, and court reports at the time of finalization.

Post-Placement Supervision is provided in accordance with state of Virginia requirements, , typically lasting six months. Reports are sent to the child-placing agency or to the courts to finalize the adoption.

  • Parent Education Workshops are conducted with all prospective adoptive parents. The workshops are designed to cover issues and concerns for families and adopted children.
  • Listen to the International Adoptee Panel Discussion, October 2007 Denver
  • Lutheran Family Services of Virginia is licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia as a child placing agency.

KIDSConnection: Adopting children in foster care

Children who are available for adoption from foster care come from varied backgrounds. They are usually aged 9 or older and may be of minority heritage, sibling groups that include older children, disabled, or from families that have experienced substantial challenges in mental and emotional health.

To equip families with the knowledge and skills to undertake foster care adoption, LFSVA provides an in-depth nine-week training program on parenting, an opportunity to talk to individuals who have adopted through the foster care system, and support throughout the adoption process.

LFSVA also completes the home study and has a Placement Assistant who helps families through the matching process. We also offer families the option to be certified as both foster and adoptive parents.

Foster children in Virginia. These services are offered through a state grant and are provided at no cost to parents who adopt children in the Virginia foster care system.
To see children in Virginia waiting for a "forever family" click here.

Foster children in other states. Unlike foster care adoption in Virginia, families who choose this option are responsible for the fees associated with the out-of-state adoption, which are about $6,000 per child. In many instances, the state holding custody of the child will offer reimbursement for some or all of the expenses associated with the child's placement.


For more information, contact:
Amy Dyer, Adoption Services Manager
2000 West Club Lane, Suite B
Richmond, VA 23226
(804) 288-0122
(800) 359-3834
email: adyer@lfsva.org