FOSTER CARE &
ADOPTION
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Adoption Services
CHS operates Wendy's Wonderful Kids, a signature program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, in South Dakota with offices in Sioux Falls and Rapid City.
Our focus through this program is to find adoptive families for children who are waiting to be adopted from foster care. The children we serve often are those who have been in foster care the longest. They may be older, in a sibling group, have needs because of trauma or abuse, or have special needs or medical needs.
Together, we believe that no child is unadoptable.
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids adoption professionals use an evidence-based, child-focused recruitment model to find the right family for every child in their care. A rigorous, five-year national evaluation revealed that children referred to the program are up to three times more likely to be adopted.
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 for the program’s focus population of teenagers, children with special needs and siblings who are too often overlooked.
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.
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption Core Beliefs:
- Every child deserves a safe, loving and permanent family.
- No child should linger in foster care or leave the system without a permanent family.
- Every child is adoptable.
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids professionals begin their search within a child’s familiar circles of family, friends 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.
To learn more about Wendy’s Wonderful Kids at CHS, please contact:
Tina Graber, Sioux Falls
tina.graber@chssd.org
605-334-6004
Alyssa Basham
Alyssa.basham@chssd.org
605-393-4278
