Key Foster and Adoption Terms in the Child Welfare System

A Glossary of Key Terms and Acronyms in Foster-to-Adoption

For both seasoned and new foster-to-adopt parents, the world of the foster care system can feel like learning a new language. With frequent meetings, court hearings, and legal processes, new foster care and adoption terms and acronyms can feel overwhelming.

This glossary guide helps foster-to-adopt families navigate the system. It explains different terms related to Virginia foster child care services, childcare facilities, and other licensed child care settings.

If you are a new foster parent or starting the foster-to-adopt process, knowing common terms can help you feel more confident as you begin your parenting journey.

Common Foster Care and Adoption Terms for Virginia Parents

Adoption Assistance 

Financial support for services provided to adoptive parents on behalf of a child who has special care needs.

Adoption Assistance-Maintenance

A portion of adoption assistance payments that cover the basic costs of raising a child. This financial support for foster-to-adopt parents is similar to foster care maintenance.

ACES (Adverse Childhood Experience)

Stressful and traumatic events that can have long-term effects on a child’s physical and mental health. Examples include child abuse, neglect, and household challenges, or even the experience of family separation to enter foster care.

Children’s Residential Facility

A facility, group home, or institution that provides full-time care and guidance to children while they are separated from their biological families.

Congregate Care

A child care facility that provides 24-hour care in a group home or institutional setting for children who require structured supervision and support services. The state licenses and approves group homes to house 7 to 12 kids and institutions 12+.

Kids living in institutions require separation from their birth homes and/or a smaller group living setting. Examples are residential treatment facilities, maternity homes, or other childcare institutions that can care for foster youth.

CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocate)

A trained volunteer appointed by a juvenile court judge to advocate for children in foster care. CASA volunteers' goal is to ensure that court proceedings take into account a child's best interests.

Disqualifiers

Factors, situations, or history that prevent (disqualify) people from successfully finishing the foster parent approval process.

Eligibility

Minimum state requirements for adoption and foster care that aspiring parents must meet. Once eligible adults receive Virginia state approval, they can care for foster youth in their homes.

Emergency Placement

Immediate care and unplanned placement of a child in a foster home because of urgent circumstances.

Enhanced Maintenance Payment

Beyond basic care maintenance, this additional financial payment to foster or adoptive parents supports children with specialized care needs.

FAQ

Acronym that means Frequently Asked Questions. Resources and child-placing agencies often provide quick-reference questions and answers to prospective foster and adoptive parents. The goal is to help adults determine if they qualify and whether parenting a foster child is right for them.

Family Assessment and Planning Team (FAPT)

A local team created through the Children’s Services Act to assist children and families in crisis. FAPT identifies and coordinates system support services to meet their unique needs.

Family Partnership Meeting (FPM)

A structured meeting to make collaborative decisions about a child’s care. Participants include biological and foster families, social workers, and other professionals. A trained individual who is not the child's or family's service worker facilitates the meeting.

Foster-to-Adopt

A pathway of adopting a child in care by way of first becoming their foster parent. Courts work through the foster care program to terminate parental rights of biological parents when reunification is not possible. Foster-to-adopt parents must meet specific licensing and legal requirements before completing the adoption process.

Guardian ad litem (GAL)

An attorney appointed by the court to represent the best interests of a child in legal proceedings. The guardian ad litem must give independent advice to the court about what is best for their client. This may differ from what the client wants. Their role is to help balance the decision-making process.

Home Study

A comprehensive assessment conducted by a licensed professional to evaluate prospective foster and adoptive parents’ ability to provide a safe and stable home environment. In Virginia, aspiring foster parents must clear the same Home Study process as foster-to-adopt parents.

Independent Living Services

Support services provided to teenagers in foster care to help them develop life skills in preparation for adulthood. Teens 14+ may be eligible to participate. A board determines such services, which may include counseling, education, housing, employment, and money management skills development. This type of support service aims to prevent hardships kids often experience when they age out of foster care.

Intensive In-home Services

Comprehensive in-home, first-responder intervention and mental health services for children and families in crisis. These individual and family therapeutic services address high-risk emotional and mental health behaviors. Clinical personnel possess the necessary expertise, training, and oversight to fulfill this obligation.

Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC)

A legal agreement between states that governs the placement of children across state lines for foster care or adoption. Once a child is ready for adoption, adoptive parents usually travel to the child's home state. Parents wait with the child until both states complete and accept the paperwork.

Kinship Care

Foster care that places children with relatives or close family friends instead of with non-relative foster families.

Legal Risk Placement

Foster placement with adoptive parents when their child's birth parent rights are in the process of being fully terminated. In these cases, social services expect adoption to proceed.

Maintenance Payment

Financial payment provided to foster parents to cover the basic needs foster youth, including food, clothing, and transportation. Additional support coverage often includes childcare, school supplies, and insurance for the child. It may also cover incidentals and reasonable travel for the child to visit their birth family. 

Normalcy

The concept that kids in foster care should experience childhood similarly to their peers who are not in foster care. This includes stable home care with a responsible adult. It also includes the opportunity to participate in school activities, sports, and social events.

Open Adoption

An adoption plan that allows the adoptive family to stay in touch with the child's biological relatives.

Permanency Plan

A legal plan developed by social services to ensure a child in foster care achieves a permanent, stable home. Common paths to permanency are through reunification, adoption, or legal guardianship.

Relinquishment Papers

Legal documents that voluntarily terminate a birth parent’s legal rights and transfer them to the adoptive parents.

Respite Care

A temporary care service that provides short-term relief to foster parents or other caregivers. The goal is to allow the break for foster parents while maintaining the stability of the child's foster placement.

Reunification

Returning a child in foster care back to their birth parents or primary caregivers when it is safe and appropriate. When children enter foster care, reuniting the child with their biological family is the default case plan goal. When safe support for youth in foster care cannot involve returning home, other paths to permanency replace this goal.

Reunification cannot happen if caregivers do not meet court requirements. Often circumstances involve child abuse or neglect, child maltreatment, or parental substance abuse. Adoption or legal guardianship may become case goals due to parental death, incarceration, or child abandonment, as well.

Termination of Parental Rights (TPR)

A legal process in which a court permanently severs a parent’s rights and responsibilities for their child. Parents who have been "TPR'd" no longer have legal rights to the care, custody, benefits or control of their child. This allows for adoption as a permanent family or for an alternative permanent placement.

Trauma-informed Care

A child welfare approach that recognizes and responds to the impact of trauma on children and families. This type of care and training incorporates strategies that promote healing and resilience through policies, procedures, and practices.

Virginia Enhanced Maintenance Assessment Tool (VEMAT)

A standardized tool used in Virginia to assess a child’s need for additional maintenance payments. Assessors base evaluations on a child's behavioral, emotional, and medical needs. The system awards a higher level of financial support to those with higher assessed needs.

Navigating the Foster-to-Adopt Journey

As a prospective foster or adoptive parent, understanding terms can help make a decision about foster care and adoption. For current parents, knowing these terms can help you understand the system and better support the children in your care. While the foster care process may seem complex, your agency partner is always here to help. Social workers and support groups also make up the network to guide you every step of the way.

If you're considering fostering or adopting, we encourage you to reach out to your local agency for more information. Your willingness to open your heart and home to youth in Virginia foster care is an incredible gift. With the right knowledge and support, you can provide loving and stable care for children who deserve a nurturing family.

You can help a child become the best version of themselves. For more information on becoming a foster-to-adopt parent, contact us today. Together, let’s make a difference!