Recently, The Sun reported about a new state initiative to prepare youth for life after foster care ("Preparing foster teens for life," Aug. 20). While helping children in foster care gain the skills they need as adults is good thing, the right thing to do is help them find a permanent family.
At the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, we are doing just that. Our child-focused recruitment model, Wendy's Wonderful Kids (WWK), works for all children who are waiting to be adopted from foster care. And the children in Florida and across the nation who have been labeled "unadoptable" — older youth, sibling groups, and children with special needs — are three times more likely to get adopted through our program.
Of the 883 children in foster care in Maryland, more than 40 children have had dedicated efforts to find homes, and 16 children have been adopted or are in permanent placement simply waiting for a court hearing to make their families final. While on the surface this number may seem less than impressive, consider that there is only one WWK recruiter working to serve the state's longest-waiting children — those who previously were thought by others to be "unadoptable."
