Join us in celebrating our adoptive families and all those who support them!
Interested in adoption? Learn about the Foster Care and Adoption program and how you can help us offer more foster homes that reflect the cultural diversity of our community.
Meet Don and Emily, who became Fairfax County foster parents in 2018. After providing respite care for a couple of children, they welcomed 15-month-old Angel into their home in 2021 and recently adopted him. Don and Emily developed a close relationship with Angel’s biological family along the way, which has been a blessing to everyone. Angel, who is now an active 4-year-old, is receiving the care and support he needs from the whole family and he is thriving. Check out the video to learn more about this family and how their choice to foster has led to such joy.
This joyful Adoption Recognition Event honored all the amazing families who have chosen to adopt children from foster care locally in the last few years. The Department of Family Services and Fairfax County Circuit Court partnered to host this event at the courthouse on Saturday, November 16. Friends and loved ones, staff and dignitaries, as well as others in the local child welfare community were there to celebrate. Guests were treated to the proclamation of November as Adoption Awareness Month, an adoption finalization ceremony, speakers, and a musical performance, followed by lunch, activities, games and raffles. Check out a short video about the ceremony.
Meet Fairfax County foster parents, Tremayne and Bryant. This couple received their first foster care placement, Smith, on July 13, 2020, when he was only 11 days old. So far, this has been their only placement and it resulted in the family adopting Smith. Learn more about Tremayne and Bryant’s story and how they work together as a team with the department to keep Smith connected with his birth family and relatives. Check out their video.
These are the true stories of Fairfax County Foster Care and Adoption. They are stories of hope, endurance, acceptance, sacrifice, belonging, and most of all love. These success stories reveal how lives have been improved and families formed, reunited, and strengthened through the support of professionals working in foster care and adoption. Check out our success stories.
Check out this interview with Fairfax County Foster Care and Adoption specialist Jessica Moser. Learn about the value of adoption from foster care and ways the Department of Family Services supports families considering this path.
Consulte esta entrevista con Melissa Alba, especialista en Acogida Temporal y Adopción del Condado de Fairfax. Conozca el valor de la adopción desde el acogimiento temporal y las formas en que el Departamento de Servicios Familiares apoya a las familias que están considerando este camino. También puedes escuchar el podcast.
Meet Katie and Zak. Katie is a teacher with Fairfax County Public Schools and a single mom who became part of a large extended family when Zak came into her life when he was 2 years old. Their story shows how foster care and adoption can knit together the lives and hearts of people from different backgrounds, locations, and cultures to make something beautiful and affirming for everyone involved. Learn more about their story and how we help connect children with forever families through adoption. Check out this video to learn more about Katie and Zak’s foster care to adoption journey.
Nationally, the theme during adoption month is Honoring Youth: Strengthening Pathways for Lasting Bonds. In recent years, the Children's Bureau’s National Adoption Month campaign has focused on the adoption of teens because they wait longer in foster care for permanency. This puts them at higher risk of aging out without permanent connections and experiencing negative outcomes such as on-going challenges with employment, education, mental health, and homelessness. This year's National Adoption Month theme emphasizes the importance of a strong support network that meets the needs of youth in care; embraces and affirms their racial, ethnic, and cultural identity; and promotes family, community, and cultural connections. This supports the goal of an adoption that is meaningful and purposeful, paving the way for healing, well-being, and long-term stability. Check out the resources.
Meet some of the wonderful children awaiting adoption through the Department of Family Services, or check out the state listing of children awaiting adoption throughout Virginia.
Most of these children are older children and youth or sibling groups who can benefit from the support of loving families to help them succeed in life. Please share their profiles and videos to help them find permanent families.
Join the conversation on social media and help raise awareness about adoption from foster care. Use the graphics and messages in our community engagement toolkit to spread the word through social media.
Between Oct. 1, 2023 and Oct. 1, 2024, 15 adoptions were finalized in Fairfax County.
20% (3) of children adopted were 10 years old and older.
80% (12) of children adopted were 9 years old and younger.
For more statistics about Foster Care and Adoption in Fairfax County, check out these resources.
Our monthly Foster Family Newsletter provides a window into the experiences of foster and adoptive parents, children in care, alumni of foster care, and the resource workers who support them. It also includes pertinent information on a variety of services and supports that are available for Fairfax County foster and adoptive families. Check out the latest newsletter.
