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ChildServ.org - Helping Chicagoland

Wendy's Wonderful Kids

ChildServ is Chicagoland's local adoption partner for Wendy's Wonderful Kids, a signature program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. This program combines the fundraising efforts of Wendy's and its customers, results driven grant oversight of the Foundation, and the talent of seasoned adoption recruiters. The Foundation awards grants to public and private adoption organizations across the nation to find permanent, loving adoptive families for thousands of children waiting in foster care.

ChildServ received five grants to work with Chicagoland's children who are eligible for adoption in the state's foster care system. Carolyn Smith-Wilson, MSW, is the Wendy's Wonderful Kids Recruiter who promotes child focused recruitment with children in the Chicago area. In 2009, twenty-eight children, average age of eight years old, benefited from ChildServ's mission in through this program.

Through this signature program, ChildServ is seeking families who will open their hearts to children who are older, of ethnic and minority backgrounds, have medical needs, or part of a sibling group. Many of these children have been waiting for a family for over five years.

If you would like more information about Wendy's Wonderful Kids, please contact Carolyn at cswilson@childserv.org

To find out more about the Wendy's Wonderful Kids program or Dave Thomas Foundation, visit the web site at www.wendyswonderfulkids.org or www.davethomasfoundationforadoption.org.

Foster Care Adoption in Illinois

  • In 2003, of the 3,230,606 total children in Illinois*, an estimated 21,608 children were in foster care.
  • In Illinois, 3,621 children in foster care were available for adoption in 2004.
  • In 2004, 2,227 children were adopted from the Illinois foster care system.
  • A child in foster care in Illinois is an average of 7.2 years old at his or her adoption finalization.
  • Of the children adopted from foster care in Illinois, 100% percent were adopted by their foster parent.

*Child Welfare League of America, National Data Analysis System, http://ndas.cwla.org. Unless otherwise indicated, statistics are provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau's Preliminary FY 2004 Estimates as of June 2006: www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb.