Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Virginia

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Virginia | InmateAid

Virginia operates regional Kinship Navigator Programs covering every part of the state -- from the Hampton Roads coast to the Appalachian coalfields. **You do not need guardianship or custody of the grandchildren to access kinship navigator services.** You need to call or walk in.

The 24/7 support hotline is **(888) 593-1972**. It operates 365 days a year and connects callers to information and referrals for family needs across Virginia.

Virginia's benefits portal is **CommonHelp** at commonhelp.virginia.gov. Apply there for SNAP, Medicaid, TANF, and child care. One practical note from kinship navigators on the ground in Virginia: when applying for TANF or benefits as a kinship caregiver, it is better to go directly to your **local DSS office** rather than applying through the online portal. The reason is that local DSS staff can ensure the application is processed as a kinship placement rather than as a traditional family application -- a distinction that matters for what you receive.

Virginia's TANF child-only amount varies by locality -- the amount differs from county to county. Apply at your local DSS to find out what your county pays.

Virginia also has **KinGAP (Kinship Guardian Assistance Program)** -- ongoing financial support and case management for relative grandparents who become legal guardians of children exiting foster care. Unlike adoption, **parental rights do not need to be terminated for guardianship to be established**.

Virginia's Southwest Appalachian coalfields -- Wise, Dickenson, Buchanan, Lee, Scott, Russell, and Tazewell Counties -- are among the hardest-hit opioid communities in the country. The Patrick Henry/Safe Families kinship navigator was built specifically for those eight counties. This article is partly written for the grandparents in that region.

You did not plan for this. You raised your children. You got to the other side of it. And then your child was incarcerated and the grandchildren needed somewhere to go. You said yes.

The Decision You Already Made

You already made the hardest decision. The grandchildren are with you. Everything else in this article is about making that workable.

A few things to understand about your position in Virginia right now:

**Call the 24/7 hotline: (888) 593-1972.** It operates year-round and connects you to information and referrals for family needs statewide.

**Contact your regional kinship navigator program.** Each region of Virginia has one; they are listed below with the counties they serve. No guardianship or custody required to access their services.

**Go to your local DSS office** for TANF, SNAP, and Medicaid applications -- not just the online CommonHelp portal. Local staff ensure kinship placements are processed correctly.

**Get a notarized POA from the incarcerated parent** through VADOC notary services. Contact the facility case manager. Standby guardianship -- a Virginia-specific option where the incarcerated parent appoints a guardian by court petition without fully surrendering parental rights -- is worth discussing with your local DSS worker or a kinship navigator.

Virginia's Regional Kinship Navigator Programs

Virginia's kinship navigator network is organized regionally. Find your region below.

**Southwest Virginia (8 Coalfield Counties)**

Patrick Henry/Safe Families

Counties: Dickenson, Buchanan, Russell, Tazewell, Lee, Wise, Scott, City of Norton

Services: Face-to-face home meetings; TANF, SNAP, Medicaid navigation; counseling, respite, educational, legal, and mental health support

Contact: dss.virginia.gov/family_first/prevserv/kinship_nav.html

**Central Virginia**

Five18 (five18.org)

Counties: Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Campbell, Lynchburg, Nelson

Services: Individualized family advocate; Kinship Resource Family Training three times yearly; childcare and gas card assistance for training attendance; pathway to foster parent certification

**Hampton Roads**

Counties: Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Norfolk

Virginia Beach Kinship Navigator: **Gloria A. Walker, (757) 385-3636**

Location: 104B N. Witchduck Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23462

Services: Resources and referrals; targeted case management; no guardianship or custody required to access

Norfolk: through Norfolk DSS kinship program

**Southwest / New River Valley**

Counties: Bland, Bristol, Carroll, Galax, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski, Radford, Smyth, Washington, Wythe

Services: Targeted case management; collaborates with Legal Aid, schools, health departments, counseling services, faith-based organizations

**South Central Virginia**

Counties: Colonial Heights, Emporia, Hopewell, Petersburg, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Prince George

Services: Short-term case management; benefits application assistance (Medicaid, TANF, SNAP, WIC); mental health referrals; food bank connections; support groups through Kin and Kids Consulting LLC

For Fairfax County and Northern Virginia: Fairfax County Department of Family Services -- Kinship Services; connects kinship families to child care, education, healthcare, and financial help. dss.fairfaxcounty.gov.

For the full statewide navigator directory: dss.virginia.gov/family_first/prevserv/kinship_nav.html and the Virginia Kinship Resource Guide at dss.virginia.gov/kinshipResource/.

Legal Authority: What It Is and How to Get It in Virginia

**Written Agreement or Power of Attorney (Informal)**

Ask the incarcerated parent to sign a letter designating you as the child's caregiver, or provide a notarized POA. VADOC facilities have notary services -- contact the facility case manager.

**Standby Guardianship**

Virginia-specific: the birth parent can appoint a standby guardian via court petition without fully surrendering parental rights. This allows the grandparent to act as guardian while the parent is incarcerated. The birth parent retains the right to revoke standby guardianship.

Standby guardianship can be established while the parent is still living and does not require DSS involvement. Contact Virginia Legal Aid or your local circuit court for the petition process.

**Legal Custody (Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court or Circuit Court)**

Legal custody through Virginia court gives the grandparent formal decision-making authority for school, medical care, and daily life. Biological parents can be ordered to pay child support.

Virginia Legal Aid (valegalaid.org) and the statewide Virginia Legal Aid Society network provide free civil legal help to income-eligible Virginians.

**Guardianship**

Minor guardianship through the circuit court establishes the grandparent as the legal guardian. Parental rights are not terminated. This is the primary pathway for KinGAP eligibility once the child exits foster care.

**KinGAP (Kinship Guardian Assistance Program)**

For grandparents in the DSS foster care system where guardianship is the permanency plan:

- Provides ongoing monthly financial payments and case management

- **Parental rights do not need to be terminated**

- Requirements: child related to caregiver by blood, marriage, or adoption; caregiver is an approved foster parent; child has been in foster care and kinship placement for a minimum of 6 months; adoption and return home are no longer viable options; caregiver becomes permanent legal guardian

- Guardian is responsible for medical care, school, family contact, and therapeutic services

Contact your local DSS worker for KinGAP eligibility.

**Adoption**

Adoption permanently terminates the biological parent's parental rights. Contact local DSS for adoption assistance information.

Money: What Virginia Offers Kinship Caregivers

**TANF Child-Only**

Available through local DSS. Grandparent income not counted for child-only. **Amount varies by locality in Virginia** -- the payment differs county to county. Apply at your local DSS office, not through CommonHelp online, to ensure the application is processed correctly as a kinship placement.

**Virginia Medicaid / CHIP**

Children in kinship care generally eligible based on income. Apply through CommonHelp (commonhelp.virginia.gov) or your local DSS. Also accessible through Cover Virginia (coverva.org). Covers doctor visits, dental, prescriptions, mental health services, emergency care, and vision.

**SNAP (Food Assistance)**

Apply through CommonHelp or local DSS. The grandchildren's presence increases your household food benefit.

**Child Care Assistance**

Apply through CommonHelp (commonhelp.virginia.gov).

**KinGAP Monthly Payments**

For grandparents who become legal guardians through the foster care pathway (see above). Contact local DSS.

**Social Security**

If the incarcerated parent was working before arrest, the grandchildren may be eligible for Social Security dependent benefits. Call 1-800-772-1213. SSI may be available for grandchildren with disabilities.

Key Virginia Resources

**Virginia Kinship Resource Guide**

dss.virginia.gov/kinshipResource/ (also kinshipvirginia.com)

Comprehensive statewide guide covering financial assistance, legal guidance, and other issues kinship caregivers face in Virginia. Covers all situations -- DSS involved and not involved.

**Formed Families Forward (FFF)**

formedfamiliesforward.org

Virginia nonprofit serving kinship, foster, and adoptive families. Provides webinars, fact sheets, and a kinship rights and responsibilities guide (updated May 2025). Monthly programming.

**VirginiaNavigator**

virginianavigator.org

Searchable database of Grandparent and Kinship Care Supports across Virginia. Find programs by location and need.

**Kin and Kids Consulting LLC**

Provides Relatives As Parents and Grandparents Raising Grandchildren support groups in multiple regions of Virginia. Referenced by Norfolk and South Central kinship navigator programs.

**24/7 Statewide Hotline**

**(888) 593-1972** -- 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Information and referrals for family needs across Virginia.

**Virginia Legal Aid**

valegalaid.org -- statewide network; free civil legal help for income-eligible Virginians including guardianship, custody, and standby guardianship.

Virginia's Tribal Context

Virginia has two federally recognized tribes: the **Pamunkey Indian Tribe** (King William County, eastern Virginia -- recognized by the federal government in 2015, the first Virginia tribe to receive federal recognition) and the **Chickahominy Tribe** (New Kent and James City Counties, eastern Virginia). Virginia also has nine additional state-recognized tribes.

ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) applies when child welfare proceedings involve children who are enrolled members or eligible for enrollment in a federally recognized tribe. Contact your tribe's social services if the grandchildren are enrolled Pamunkey or Chickahominy members or may be eligible.

The School Question

With a POA, legal custody, guardianship, or standby guardianship, school enrollment in Virginia is straightforward.

Without legal authority: use the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Virginia schools must immediately enroll children in unstable housing situations, including children living with relatives due to a parent's incarceration. Ask the school district's McKinney-Vento liaison.

For children with IEPs, you will need legal authority or signed parental authorization from the incarcerated parent to participate in planning meetings. The kinship navigator in your region can help. VADOC facilities have notary services -- contact the facility case manager.

Virginia's kinship navigator FAQ notes specifically that for special education concerns, you can speak with the child's teacher or school principal about having the child evaluated.

Medical Authorization Before Court Paperwork Is Done

Get a notarized parental POA from the incarcerated parent through VADOC notary services. Contact the facility case manager.

Apply for Virginia Medicaid or CHIP through CommonHelp (commonhelp.virginia.gov) or local DSS. Medicaid enrollment does not require legal custody.

Virginia's Geographic Reality

Virginia spans from the Hampton Roads coast to the Appalachian coalfields -- a distance of roughly 450 miles. The kinship navigator program's regional structure reflects this: five geographic regions with different organizations serving each.

VADOC facilities are distributed across the state. Wallens Ridge State Prison (Big Stone Gap, Wise County) and Red Onion State Prison (Pound, Wise County) are both in the far southwestern corner -- for a Northern Virginia or Richmond family, a 7+ hour drive. Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women (Troy, Fluvanna County) is about 1.5 hours west of Richmond. Greensville Correctional Center (Jarratt, Sussex County) is about 1.5 hours south of Richmond.

VADOC phone calls go through ICS Corrections / GTL. You control which numbers are approved.

The Patrick Henry/Safe Families kinship navigator in Southwest Virginia conducts face-to-face home meetings -- important for families in Dickenson or Buchanan Counties where the nearest DSS office may be a 45-minute drive. That service was built for that geography.

What She Is Carrying That He Cannot See

You did not plan for this stage of your life. The grandchildren arrived and with them came school forms, doctor appointments, someone to be home, someone to sit with a child who is afraid.

Virginia's Southwest Appalachian coalfields -- Wise County, Dickenson County, Buchanan County, Lee County, Scott County -- are among the most severely opioid-affected communities in the United States, with per-capita overdose and incarceration rates that arrived faster than the support infrastructure. The Patrick Henry/Safe Families kinship navigator exists because grandparents in those eight counties were raising grandchildren without any support at all.

You are also carrying your feelings about your child who is incarcerated. Those feelings do not have to resolve. You can love your child and be furious. You can hope for the release and fear what comes after.

Formed Families Forward's monthly webinars, Kin and Kids Consulting's support groups, the regional kinship navigators -- these communities of other grandparents doing what you are doing exist across Virginia. Call (888) 593-1972 to find what is in your area.

Talking to the Grandchildren About Where Their Parent Is

The children know something is wrong. Silence does not protect them.

Use honest, age-appropriate language. For a young child: "Your dad made a mistake and he has to stay somewhere else while he learns from it. You are safe and I am here." For an older child: "Your mom is in prison. She did something against the law and a judge decided she needs to be there for a while. She loves you. She is not in danger."

Do not make promises about when the parent will be home that you cannot keep. Let the children have their feelings. Keep the parent present in appropriate ways: photos, letters, phone calls.

VADOC phone calls go through ICS Corrections / GTL. You control which numbers are approved. The grandchildren's relationship with their incarcerated parent is theirs.

Virginia Medicaid covers mental health services for children. If the grandchildren are struggling, ask the school counselor for a referral or the child's Medicaid primary care provider.

Your Relationship With Your Incarcerated Child

Your feelings about your child are complicated. You are raising their children because they cannot. Both things are true.

What the grandchildren need: to see that you are not punishing their parent through them.

What you need: a place to hold the complicated feelings that is not in front of the grandchildren. The kinship support groups through Kin and Kids Consulting, Formed Families Forward's webinars, a therapist, a trusted person -- any of these is better than holding it alone.

What to Do First: A Practical Checklist

Call the 24/7 statewide hotline: (888) 593-1972. Get connected to information and referrals for your area.

Contact your regional kinship navigator program. No guardianship or custody required. Use the list above or dss.virginia.gov/family_first/prevserv/kinship_nav.html.

Get a notarized POA from the incarcerated parent through VADOC notary services. Contact the facility case manager.

Go to your local DSS office -- in person -- to apply for TANF child-only, Medicaid, and SNAP. Ask staff to process it as a kinship placement.

Apply for child care assistance through CommonHelp at commonhelp.virginia.gov.

Discuss standby guardianship options with your local DSS worker or kinship navigator. The incarcerated parent can set this up without terminating parental rights.

Start the legal custody or guardianship process. Contact Virginia Legal Aid (valegalaid.org) for free civil legal help.

Visit dss.virginia.gov/kinshipResource/ (the Virginia Kinship Resource Guide) for a complete statewide resource map.

Enroll grandchildren in school using the POA. Use McKinney-Vento if needed.

Connect with Formed Families Forward (formedfamiliesforward.org) for webinars and the kinship rights guide.

Take care of yourself. The navigator programs and support groups are there. You are not alone.

FAQ

**Do I need guardianship or custody to access kinship navigator services in Virginia?** No. Virginia's kinship navigator programs explicitly state that guardianship or custody is not required to access their services. However, some specific benefits and programs do require legal documentation. Contact your regional kinship navigator for guidance.

**What is KinGAP?** Virginia's Kinship Guardian Assistance Program. Provides ongoing monthly financial payments and case management support to relatives who become legal guardians of children exiting foster care. Parental rights do not need to be terminated -- guardianship preserves the parent-child legal relationship. Requires 6 months in foster care/kinship placement, approved foster parent status, and permanency through guardianship. Contact your local DSS.

**What is standby guardianship?** A Virginia-specific legal option where the birth parent appoints a guardian by court petition without fully surrendering parental rights. The incarcerated parent can do this. It gives the grandparent legal authority while the parent is away without permanently terminating the parent's rights. The parent can revoke standby guardianship. Contact Virginia Legal Aid (valegalaid.org) or your local circuit court.

**Why should I go to local DSS instead of using CommonHelp online?** Kinship navigators in Virginia specifically advise applying in person at your local DSS rather than through the CommonHelp online portal (commonhelp.virginia.gov) for TANF and kinship benefits. The reason: local staff can ensure the application is processed as a kinship placement rather than a traditional family application, which affects what you receive and how quickly.

**What is the Virginia Kinship Resource Guide?** A comprehensive statewide guide at dss.virginia.gov/kinshipResource/ covering financial assistance, legal guidance, and services for kinship caregivers in Virginia. Covers all kinship situations regardless of DSS involvement.

**What is Formed Families Forward?** A Virginia nonprofit (formedfamiliesforward.org) serving kinship, foster, and adoptive families. Provides monthly webinars, fact sheets, and a kinship rights and responsibilities guide (updated May 2025).

**How do I talk to the grandchildren about their parent being in prison?** Use honest, age-appropriate language without promises about when the parent will be home. Let the children have feelings. Keep the parent present appropriately -- photos, letters, VADOC phone calls through ICS Corrections/GTL. Virginia Medicaid covers mental health services; ask the school counselor or primary care provider for a referral.