Wendy’s Wonderful Kids™
Supporting Adoption From Foster Care
Through our Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption-Canada supports the hiring of child welfare professionals, known as recruiters, who are dedicated to finding safe, permanent homes for the longest-waiting children in foster care.
How Recruiters Help
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids adoption recruiters use an evidence-based, child-focused recruitment model to find the right family for every child. A rigorous, five-year evaluation in the United States revealed that children referred to the program are up to 3x more likely to be adopted.
Canada Program Results to Date
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiters
Implementing a model proven by research conducted in the U.S. to be up to 3x more effective at serving the longest-waiting children in foster care
children have permanent families with help from our supporters
Child-Focused Recruitment Model
While other types of adoption recruitment can be successful, child-focused recruitment has been proven to be the most effective approach to achieving permanency the program’s focus population of teenagers, children with special needs and siblings who are too often overlooked.
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiters begin their search within a child’s familiar circles of friends, family and neighbors, and then reach out to the communities in which they live.
Achieving permanency may include adoption or legal guardianship. And if family reunification is a safe option, a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter will explore it … always.
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiters are committed to building a trusting relationship with the young people they serve, helping them unpack fears and misconceptions about adoption.
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiters work with smaller caseloads of 12–15 children to ensure that every child receives the time, resources and support they deserve.
Explore research showing the impact of Wendy’s Wonderful Kids and the Foundation’s evidence-based, child-focused recruitment model.
Who We Serve
Of children currently served by Wendy’s Wonderful Kids in Canada:
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79%
who are older than age 8
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9%
who have had six or more placements
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31%
who have been in foster care more than 4 years
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91%
who had minimal or no adoption recruitment efforts
Hear from Adoption Professionals
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