For Keeps News & Events

First lady's cause

By Mason Adams and Michael Sluss, Roanoke Times, Wednesday, January 17, 2007

First lady Anne Holton launched an initiative Tuesday to bring private organizations together with state agencies to improve foster care services, highlighting an issue that will be a major focus of her tenure in the governor's mansion.

Holton's "For Keeps" initiative is intended to identify and strengthen "permanent families" for older children in foster care and for those who are at risk of entering the system. Among other things, the program will identify the "best practices" and programs that provide stable settings for teens in foster care, and pursue partnerships to develop community-based support systems.

"We all need permanent family connections to be successful," said Holton, a former Richmond juvenile and domestic relations judge who is intimately familiar with foster care issues.

At a governor's mansion press conference, Holton accepted a $94,000 donation from the Freddie Mac Foundation to help support the initiative. Holton also said she will conduct a statewide "listening tour" later this year to gather ideas and information for the effort.