Wendy’s Wonderful Kids: Child-Focused Recruitment

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Wendy’s Wonderful Kids is the signature program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which is driven by a single goal: to find loving, adoptive homes for children who have been in foster care the longest. It is North America’s only national nonprofit charity dedicated solely to finding permanent homes for the more than 130,000 children in foster care.

Hillside’s Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Recruiters are able to receive referrals on children in New York State who would benefit from having additional help in finding them a forever home. The WWK recruiters use a child-focused recruitment model that includes: initial referral, relationship building with youth, case record review, assessment of adoption readiness, adoption preparation, network building, diligent search and recruitment plan.

Over the last 25 years, the WWK program has helped facilitate successful adoptions of more than 7,000 youth. “Unadoptable” is unacceptable.

About this Program

Activities of the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Recruiter and implementation of the WWK Child-Focused Recruitment Model include:

Recruiting new WWK referrals
Meeting with the child’s caseworker
Conducting and initial meeting with the child, and building and maintain a trusting relationship by meeting with the child at least once per month
Conducting a case record review
Assessing the child’s adoption readiness
Assisting the child with preparations for adoption
Network-building for the child
Developing a child-specific recruitment plan
Conducting a diligent search of potential resources
Facilitating the placement of the child in a pre-adoptive home
Providing support throughout the placement process until the adoption is finalized

Eligibility

Children are eligible for the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids child-focused recruitment services if they are in the public foster care system, are in the process of being freed for adoption, have been freed for adoption, or have a permanency planning goal of adoption. The child may also be in another planned permanent living arrangement status.

All youth must be referred to the program by their counties of origin. Hillside’s WWK Recruiter can accept referrals from Onondaga, Monroe, Allegany and Steuben Counties.

Locations

Rochester Office
1 Mustard Street
Rochester, NY 14609

Syracuse Office
215 Wyoming Street
Syracuse NY 13204

Bath / Southern Tier Office
24 Liberty Street
PO Box 326
Bath NY 14810

Contact Information

Jami Millson, LMSW
Program Manager
585-256-7500
info@hillside.com

For details about this or any Hillside program, contact us 24 hours a day at 585-256-7500 or info@hillside.com

This Program Supported by a grant from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and the New York State Office of Children and Family Services.