After a rigorous, five-year evaluation in the United States revealed that children served by the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program are up to three times more likely to be adopted, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption-Canada began scaling the program through a co-investment public/private partnership strategy.
The control group research showed that children in foster care served by the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program are 1.7 times more likely to be adopted than those not served. Older children and those with mental health challenges are 3 times more likely to be adopted when served by Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiters. Wendy’s Wonderful Kids is the only program in Canada to use this evidence-based model.
The evaluation used automated random assignment of children into treatment (WWK) and control (non-WWK) groups and administrative data from state child welfare agencies about children in the treatment and control groups. It included more than 1,200 children in 23 states. A qualitative study and interviews with parents and youth were also conducted.
