About VKB
Learn the Story Behind Why We CareVKB strives to refine the foster care system into one that is trauma-informed, responsive, and supportive - empowering foster, adoptive, and kinship parents and communities to provide the care and resources needed for children to thrive.
Through advocacy, education, and partnerships with government agencies, local leaders, and other nonprofits, we are committed to driving positive change and inspiring action to achieve our vision of a brighter future for Virginia’s children.
Our Mission
Fighting the Foster Care CrisisVirginia's Kids Belong aims to dramatically improve the experience and outcomes for children in foster care because every child deserves a safe, stable, loving family, in a supportive community, where they BELONG.
Virginia’s Kids Belong mobilizes government, faith-based, business and creative leaders around the goal of permanency and belonging for every child.
Combining grassroots and “grasstops” methods, Virginia’s Kids Belong runs innovative initiatives to help ensure that every child is in a loving home by: recruiting more foster and adoptive families, engaging wrap-around support for at-risk, foster & kinship families along the way, and helping youth who have aged out without a family reach their full potential.
The Virginia's Kids Belong Story
Find out how we startedIt took only a moment in 2012 for Janet and Ryan Kelly to decide what they knew was right… of course, they would welcome this 18-month-old into their new family! This was the moment when the idea behind VKB was born.
The Kelly’s political path and personal adoption story led them to launch the "Virginia Adopts" campaign alongside Governor Bob McDonnell in 2013. This pioneering effort used the power of the Governor’s office, social media, and a collaborative approach to match over 1,000 children with permanent families in just one year, as well as recruit additional support into Virginia's foster care system.
Launched in 2016, Virginia’s Kids Belong continues to be a voice for the vulnerable across the Commonwealth. Each team member brings their experiences from government, nonprofit, faith and business as well as lived experiences in the world of foster care, kinship families and adoption, to collaborate and creatively improve the short and long-term outcomes for kids that are child welfare involved.
During the pandemic, VKB retooled to directly support the emergent needs of foster families and advocated for kids. These initiatives helped stable foster families and keep kids safer. In 2022, Janet transitioned to the VKB Board of Directors and welcomed Stephanie Lynch, MSW as our new Executive Director.
