Вирджиния отклоняет 61% жалоб на жестокое обращение с детьми и хуже других штатов обеспечивает им стабильное устройство

Virginia is much like the rest of the United States when it comes to suspicions that children are neglected or abused. But the response of child protective services here is a lot different — far fewer cases are checked. Once in foster care, Virginia does worse than the nation in finding stable placements for youth before they turn 18. The way the system works varies widely from locality to locality, as well. Virginia is one of a handful of states that entrusts child welfare to local entities rather than a state agency; unlike the others, state oversight of what localities do has been relatively light-handed. Legislation this year aims to change that, but the state budget cut the funds meant to launch this effort. Those bills aim at launching a statewide intake system, so there’s a clear standard for when a report of abuse or neglect requires action. They also aimed to enhance the power of the state Commissioner of Social Services to demand changes when a local department is falling short. Department of Social Services’ priorities Commissioner Duke Storen said a central state intake system will be a big help with one of the Virginia Department of Social Services’ top three priorities: prevention and diversion. “Not every child needs to be in foster care,” he said, adding that digging into the data on the reasons children go into care, some of the most common reasons include homelessness and trouble paying rent. He thinks statewide intake might be able to reach support resources, from help with housing to behavioral health or substance abuse services that might not be as immediately available to a local department. Storen also wants to keep pushing to expand kinship care. In those situations where abuse or neglect has reached the point where a child has to leave home, going to a relative helps ease trauma. Storen said finding more kinship care for kids, the department’s second top priority, could also reduce the number of kids aging out at 18 without ever finding a permanent home. A third priority is reducing the number of children who end up in group homes or residential treatment centers when there are no other options available, he said. One challenge is finding foster parents willing to take on the challenges of older and much traumatized kids or children with special needs, said Kristin Zagar, who as chief deputy commissioner oversees the state’s child welfare efforts. That’ll be another push by the department. One challenge is that not all the supports children and struggling families need — mental healthcare, substance abuse treatment, housing — are available everywhere in Virginia, Storen and Zagar said. But those wraparound services can keep kids out of institutional care and help families make it through a tough time, they said. Money has always been an issue. Base pay for the frontline social workers who daily face the heartbreak that abuse and neglect cases entail has long been set at $37,000. If a local government didn’t supplement the state base pay, as many did not, these college graduates were often earning less than many retail store employees with high school diplomas, former Secretary of Health and Human Resources Janet Kelly said last year. The new state budget raises this to $55,000. Heavy caseloads — sometimes 30 family tragedies at a time — led to high turnover, as well. Centralized intake, firmer state oversight and supporting frontline social workers with better pay, lower caseloads and an understanding of the high emotional costs of the job are all key to doing a better job for Virginia’s kids, advocates say. Va. screens out 61% of neglect, abuse referrals The rate at which reports of possible child neglect or abuse come into Virginia’s child protective services is 48.3 per 1,000 children in Virginia, versus 49.9 per 1,000 for the United States. But Virginia “screens out” — takes no action — in 61% of these referrals, compared with a national average of 43%. Some localities screen out even more: 16 Virginia localities screen out three-quarters or more of all referrals, according to The Times-Dispatch analysis of Department of Social Services intake and assessment data from 2024, the latest available. Although state law requires that social workers respond within 24 hours to reports of abuse or neglect of infants under 2 years old, in fiscal year 2026, this didn’t happen in 806 cases, local social services department executives report. After assessing or investigating a child’s situation, social work departments set up services in 31% of cases; that’s down from 40% five years ago. Social workers determined that just under 8% of accepted cases were founded — that the child was neglected or abused. That’s half the U.S. average. In 22 localities, the percentage of accepted cases determined to be founded is a quarter of the U.S. average or less. In eight localities, no cases were determined to be founded. In fiscal year 2025, of 229 child deaths in Virginia where there were suspicions of abuse and neglect, local social services departments investigated 162. Nearly a quarter of these — 23% — were cases in which a local social services department screened out a report of neglect or abuse. Three children in foster care have died over the past 12 months, state data shows. Twelve have run away and, as of this month, have not been found. When, after screening a report of abuse or neglect, a social worker’s assessment finds a child at high or very high risk of abuse or neglect, nearly 80% of cases receive no in-home services. 19% of Va. children in foster care end up with relatives Relatively few children in Virginia end up in foster care: 2.2 of every 1,000 children, versus 4.2 per 1,000 for the nation. Of those, the percentage ending up with relatives, considered the best option, is about 19%; the national average is 35%. About 15% of children in foster care are in institutions or group homes. They spend an average of two years there. That’s marginally higher than the national average, but Virginia’s been trending up while the nation has been trending down. Some 36% of children discharged from foster care return to their families, compared with 46% nationwide. About 27% leaving foster care are adopted, roughly in line with the national percentage; 17% find a permanent place with relatives, which is in line with the national percentage for permanent placement with relatives or guardianship. Some never find a permanent place. Statewide, 19% of discharges from foster care, some 429, were young people who aged out. That’s more than twice the national rate of 9%. © 2026 Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.. Visit www.timesdispatch.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.