These webpages identify external resources on specific topics of interest to foster, kinship and adoptive families.

• Adoption Subsidy and Assistance

• Dispute Resolution (between family and school)

  Here we provide some resources for parents and caregivers to better understand and use available methods for resolving conflicts or disputes between families and schools.

• Family Engagement

• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Neuro developmental Disorders

  This page features a variety of resources for families raising and working with children, youth or young adults who have experienced prenatal exposure to alcohol or drugs.  Several resources, noted with a (T) below, are particularly helpful for sharing background information with teachers and other adults who work with children and youth with FASD.

• Fostering Connections Act and Strengthening Families Act

  The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act was signed into law on October 7, 2008, as Public Law 110-351. It’s many provisions includes requirements to increase Educational Stability. These requirements add travel to and from school in the foster care maintenance payment definition, adds a case plan requirement to ensure educational stability for children in foster care, and requires that the title IV-E agency ensure that each child receiving a payment under the title IV-E plan is attending school full time or has completed secondary school.

• Kinship Families

• Mental Health & Substance Use Disorders

• Special Education Basics

• Transition Through Middle And High School And Beyond
  • Resources for youth

  • Resources specifically for formed families

  • Virginia Resources

  • National Resources

• Trauma and Trauma-Sensitive Schools

  This page features a number of external and FFF resources on childhood trauma, responding to trauma and trauma-sensitive schools. Click the "For educators" box below to limit search results to those resources that may be particularly helpful to school personnel. In addition to services and supports at schools, Virginia regional Community Services Boards offer behavioral health services for children and families. Emergency services and crisis response are among the supports offered by CSBs. Local CSBs can be found at https://dbhds.virginia.gov/community-services-boards-csbs .

  • For educators

• Just for Youth and Young Adults