Dave Thomas Foundation For Adoption

Programs: Wendy's wonderful kids:wendy's wonderful kids, a signature program of the foundation, is making a difference for thousands of children across the nation - one child at a time. The dave thomas foundation for adoption awards grants to public and private agencies to hire adoption professionals who implement a proactive, child-focused recruitment strategy targeted exclusively on moving america's longest-waiting children from foster care into adoptive families. Research released in 2011 from a five-year rigorous evaluation of wendy's wonderful kids child-focused recruitment model showed that children served by the program are up to three times more likely to get adopted. Wendy's wonderful kids recruiters work with children and youth at greatest risk of turning 18 and leaving foster care without an adoptive family. The recruiters have smaller caseloads, to ensure they have the time and resources to give each child the attention he or she deserves and employ an aggressive evidence-based practice model focused on finding the best home for a child. The dave thomas foundation for adoption is funding 248 wendy's wonderful kids recruiters working for children in the u. S. More than 6,300 children have been adopted as a result of wendy's wonderful kids, and another 700 are in their pre-adoptive placements simply waiting for a final court hearing.

adoption awareness and advocacy:the foundation is committed to communicating the urgency of foster care adoption to assure permanent families for the more than 100,000 children in the u. S. Waiting to be adopted. Year-round awareness efforts include daily social media communications; marketing programs dispelling myths and misperceptions surrounding the issue of foster care adoption and the children waiting to be adopted; the development and distribution of free educational resources; the production of national television, radio and print public service announcements; media engagement and thought leader speaking and keynote opportunities; and participation in a number of events across north america. Additionally, since 2002, the foundation has commissioned several groundbreaking studies to measure americans' perceptions of foster care adoption.

general grants:in addition to funding wendy's wonderful kids grants, resources generated by the foundation help to award strategic national grants to adoption agencies and organizations that share the foundation's mission. These grants provide critical foster care adoption services and support, promote best practices in foster care adoption, and assist with educational materials and strategies for parents and child welfare professionals. Six organizations were funded under the general grants effort, including the center for adoption support and education (burtonsville, md), the congressional coalition on adoption, inc. (washington, d. C. ), fostering media connections (san francisco, ca), the national council for adoption (alexandria, va), the north american council on adoptable children (2 grants -minneapolis, mn) and youth catalytics, inc (charlotte, vt).

other programs:1. National adoption month and day expenses: $30,559 including grants of: $0november is national adoption awareness month, a time to celebrate and raise awareness about foster care adoption. The foundation joins this important conversation by implementing a month-long strategic effort that focuses on outreach and education, resource distribution, and media coverage to increase awareness of foster care adoption across the country. National adoption day is held each year on the saturday before thanksgiving. On this day during national adoption awareness month, courts and community organizations across the country make it a priority to finalize pending foster care adoptions, while celebrating all families who adopt. In 2016, more than 4,000 children were adopted and supporters hosted more than 400 events to celebrate the spirit of this special day. The foundation is honored to be a lead founding and funding partner of this coalition, which also includes the children's action network, the alliance for children's rights, and the congressional coalition on adoption institute. For more information, visit nationaladoptionday. Org. 2. Adoption-friendly workplaceexpenses: $69,827 including grants of: $0in 1990, president george h. W. Bush asked dave thomas, founder of wendy's, to be the spokesperson for a new adoption initiative. Dave, an adoptee and adoption advocate, enthusiastically accepted the challenge and began to speak out publicly, asking people to consider foster care adoption and encouraging other business leaders to offer adoption benefits as a part of their employee benefit plans. Adoption-friendly workplace was developed to keep dave's work in motion. This signature program offers free toolkits and expert guidance to employers across the nation. The goal is to provide companies with all of the tools and support needed to set up and provide their employees adoption benefits, including financial reimbursement and paid leave. The foundation compiles and publishes an annual list of the nation's 100 best adoption-friendly workplaces and highlights the forward-thinking employers that have adoption benefits in place. For more information, go to adoptionfriendlyworkplace. Org. 3. A home for the holidaysexpenses: $63,574 including grants of: $0this powerful annual primetime cbs special, airing in december, shares family stories of foster care adoption and features performances from some of america's most popular musical and stage artists. The foundation has been a proud partner and participant for the past 16 years with children's action network, triage productions and goldsmith entertainment. 4. Post adoption expenses:$182,849 including grants of: $0robust post-adoption services are critical for many families who adopt from foster care and other venues. The dave thomas foundation for adoption has developed a free resource booklet, "a step-by-step guide to post-adoption" for distribution that defines the types of resources available for parents after an adoption is finalized, how to select and locate providers, and what to do if resources do not exist in their communities. It also includes recommendations of other national non-profit organizations that can help. In addition, the foundation funded the center for adoption support and education (burtonsville, md) to support the continued development of a curriculum for adoption-competent mental health providers; worked in partnership with the american academy of pediatrics (chicago, il) to produce and distribute a critical trauma resource for pediatricians working with adoptive families; partnered with other organizations on a new national post-adoption conference for child welfare professionals; and engaged child trends (washington, d. C. ) to further research families adopted through wendy's wonderful kids to identify both successful post-adoption resources and gaps in services for families. 6. Child focused recruitment curriculumexpenses: $217,144 including grants of: $0educating and training wendy's wonderful kids adoption recruiters and other child welfare workers across the nation is key to implementing and embedding as best practice the successful child-focused recruitment model. The model, which research has proven to be up to three times more effective than typical adoption recruitment, requires extensive and exhaustive training for caseworkers. The foundation has developed a manualized curriculum that includes online modules, classroom training, and ongoing support, to ensure that the model is successfully understood and implemented. 7. Dave thomas foundation for adoption canadaexpenses: $112,596 including grants of: $112,596 revenue: $113,556the foundation provides accounting and program service assistance to its related organization, dave thomas foundation for adoption canada (dtfa canada). This amount is then granted back to dtfa canada in the form of a donation. Total other program services: