Adopt A Child

We are pleased to implement Wendy’s Wonderful Kids in Missouri, a signature program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, that brings children waiting to be adopted from foster care one step closer to safe, loving, permanent homes. Through Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, the Foundation provides grants to adoption agencies to hire and train adoption recruiters who implement the Foundation’s evidence-based, child-focused recruitment model. This model is up to three times more effective at serving children who have been in foster care the longest, including:

• Older adolescents and teens. More often than not, the perception of teens in state custody is that they are troubled, aggressive, and delinquent. However, they can be just as engaging, resilient, and rewarding to parent as younger children. And most importantly, they can benefit from the emotional and financial stability a family and loving home can offer.  

• Large sibling groups. This could include a sibling group of three or more children. We do our best to keep siblings together when they are removed from a home. For many children in our care, their brothers or sisters have been the only constant presence in their lives.

• Youth with special needs. We believe that children with special needs are, first and foremost, just children and that it’s important to place children in homes that can accommodate their unique needs.

Additionally, our goal is to limit the number of transitions (or homes) a child experiences. To that end, preference for adoption is given to foster families that have already provided a home to a specific child (including infants) for at least nine months. 

Visit our Become A Foster Parent webpage to learn more about foster care and the training and licensure process in your state.