The Human Services Division acknowledges November as Youth Homeless Awareness Month. On October 24, 2022, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care (GRCoC) a 4.4 million dollar grant as part of HUD's Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program. These funds will undoubtedly create opportunities to plan and implement youth-focused initiatives in Chesterfield County and throughout the Greater Richmond Region. Homeward was the coordinating agency for the grant application on behalf of GRCoC and many other partners supported the application including Commonwealth Catholic Charities, St. Joseph's Villa, Virginia Home for Boys and Girls, GRCoC Youth Action Board, Counties of Hanover, Henrico, and Chesterfield Department of Social Services, and City of Richmond Department of Social Services. It is my pleasure to serve on Homeward's Board of Directors and I look forward to working with the Board of Directors as decisions are made to allocate grant funds. To learn more about Homeward's Mission check out their website at homewardva.org.

Principal For A Day

Many Human Services Team Members participated in Chesterfield County's Principal for the Day. This was a successful day to learn in greater detail what occurs in Schools from the perspective of a principal and share County support.

Photo Above: Social Service Director Kiva Rogers participating in Principal for a Day at Chester Early Learning Academy.

Hispanic Heritage Month

Dr. Worsley hosted a luncheon for Human Services Employees that serve our Spanish speaking population. The lunch allowed many employees to celebrate their Hispanic Heritage as well as have conversation on language access within Human Services Leadership.

Photo above: of participants celebration National Hispanic Heritage Month with Dr. Worsley.

Each year Chesterfield County celebrates Customer Service week the first week of October to reaffirm the County's commitment of providing excellent customer service. This year's celebration was special in recognizing those employees that retired from the time frame of March of 2020 to August of 2022. The total amount of years of service from the retirees was over 1,000 years of services.

Photo Above: Group Photo of retirees that retired from March 2020-August 2022

Picture above: Social Services Rock Bank Trunk or Treat Honorable Mention

Photo above: Group photo of County Leadership, MRC, and CERT Volunteers

Community Cup

Representatives from regional public safety agencies and multicultural communities came together on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022, for the Community Cup 2022, for a free, family-oriented, fun-filled day of soccer and community building. The tournament was held in Chesterfield County at River City Sportsplex.

The Community Cup is a regional partnership between Chesterfield and Henrico counties, the City of Richmond, and the Virginia State Police. In addition to the soccer tournament, activities included food trucks, entertainment, kids zone, first responders’ vehicles and informational booths. View the 2022 event video. 

Photo Above: Soccer Action Shot of Community Cup

Staying Strong at Stonebridge 

The first week of October was Active Aging Week, the Office of Aging and Disability Services hosted Staying Strong at Stonebridge. This was an event geared towards older adults in the community on how the many ways they can stay engaged with multiple vendors, food, and music!

Picture above: Alexa van Aartrijk and Bernadette Gilmore coordinating the event.

Staff Appreciation

Chesterfield Juvenile Detention Home held our annual staff appreciation day in October, and we had a great turnout for a 24-hour operation where staff are working at all times. We had representation from all four of our shifts as well as our support services’ departments, and all had a wonderful time partaking in all the planned activities (volleyball tournament, three-point shootout contest, pickleball tournament, family feud, and many others). It was our first staff event that didn’t require masks or social distancing and that made it all the better. We were very appreciative to Dr. James Worsley, Deputy Director for Human Services, and Joni Doctor, Budget Analyst, for taking time out of their day to attend and break bread with our staff. We also honored staff with years of service pins as well as congratulating one of our staff on their upcoming retirement in addition to recognizing our accomplishments for the past year. We are grateful to the County for allowing us to do this once a year.

Photo above: Members of Juvenile Detention Home Staff enjoying appreciation lunch.

Picture above: Many Pilk and Kelly Fried at VSU Career Day

Picture Above: Chesterfield County employees participating in VSU Career Day

National Adoption Month

November is recognized as National Adoption Month. Since January 2022, the Chesterfield-Colonial Heights Department of Social Services has facilitated the adoption of 11 children. Currently, there are 33 children in foster care who have a permanency goal of adoption. Seventeen of these children are over the age of 14, giving them only a few more years until they turn 18 and enter early adulthood. Many of these children have been in multiple placements, and do not have a familial or natural support system to rely on. In these cases, the Department partners with agencies such as Children’s Home Society for adoption recruitment, as well as assisting the child in developing essential independent living skills.

The Chesterfield-Colonial Heights Department of Social Services is always looking for foster and adoptive families to serve the children and families involved in the foster care system. To become an approved family, you must complete a background check process, trainings on parenting children who have experienced trauma, and a home study process. These steps allow for the families to understand how the foster care system works and how best to serve this population. It also allows for the Department to understand the strengths of the family to match them with a child in need. We are here to support you as foster and adoptive families as you support and build up our community.  

If you are interested in becoming a resource parent, you can register through this link to receive communication from the Department about your next steps.

If you have any questions, please contact Courtney Heavener at 804-717-6212. 

• Citizen Information and Resources: Emily Ashley, director
• Community Corrections Services: JoAnn McLaurin-Carpenter, assistant director
• Drug Courts: Melanie Meadows, administrator 
• Juvenile Justice Services: Justin Crostic, program administrator for treatment programs & detention alternatives 
• Mental Health Support Services: Jaroslaw Muchowski, assistant director of administration and planning
• Social Services: Kiva Rogers, director