Youngkin’s New Mission: No Child Left Without a Family

Yesterday, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the launch of Safe Kids, Strong Families, a major initiative aimed at transforming Virginia’s child welfare system with a renewed focus on safety, family stability, and long-term reform.

Backed by a $1 million investment, the initiative will fund a comprehensive study to address some of the system’s most urgent challenges—including child safety, workforce shortages, overreliance on group care, and the need for clearer pathways toward permanent family placement. The study is designed to serve as a roadmap for future reforms, building on the administration’s previous efforts to modernize and humanize foster care in the Commonwealth.

“The most amazing gift we have here in Virginia are our children,” Governor Youngkin said at the launch. “This initiative builds on three years of progress to ensure every child has the love and support they need to fulfill their God-given destiny. We’re creating a system that puts families first—where children are safe, supported, and given every opportunity to thrive.”

Safe Kids, Strong Families expands on the work of the administration’s Safe and Sound Task Force, which was established to address a critical crisis—children in foster care sleeping in government offices due to a lack of placements. That effort led to significant changes, including an increase in kinship care placements, where children are placed with relatives instead of non-relative foster families. In just two years, those placements rose from 13 percent to 21.2 percent, representing over 1,000 children. The goal is to reach 35 percent by the end of the Youngkin administration.

One program making that possible is the Parental Child Safety Placement Program, which took effect in July 2024. It has already enabled 661 children to stay with kin rather than entering traditional foster care—and nearly 44 percent have since reunited with their parents. The program reflects a broader shift toward keeping families together whenever it’s safe and appropriate to do so.

Youngkin also signed into law a package of bills—HB 1777, SB 1406, and SB 801—that further strengthen Virginia’s child welfare system. The legislation ensures children aged 12 and older in foster care are made aware of the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman, gives them greater access to critical support services, and expands eligibility under the Children’s Services Act to better serve at-risk youth. All three bills passed with unanimous bipartisan support.

“These reforms remind us what’s possible when people come together across the aisle and across agencies,” said Secretary of Health and Human Resources Janet V. Kelly. “With strong partnerships and a shared vision, Virginia can help children turn heartbreak into healing, and hardship into resilience.”

The initiative is also backed by significant funding: $7.4 million to strengthen Child Protective Services, $12.1 million annually to support relatives caring for children, and $1.5 million to adjust foster care and adoption payments for cost of living. These investments reflect a growing consensus that prevention and permanency—not just temporary fixes—are key to real progress.

Additionally, the administration’s broader behavioral health effort, Right Help, Right Now, has helped address the root causes behind 90 percent of foster care entries, including substance abuse and mental health challenges. The launch of a first-of-its-kind kinship care system has further advanced that work, with the goal of ensuring that every child has a safe and loving home.

With Safe Kids, Strong Families, Governor Youngkin is signaling a long-term commitment to sustainable, family-centered solutions—where no child falls through the cracks and every family has a chance to succeed.

“This is about building a future where every child belongs, every voice is heard, and every family is strong,” Youngkin said. “And we’re just getting started.”