Richland County Children Services recently received a $28,500 Wendy’s Wonderful Kids grant through the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
Money from the one-year grant will be used to hire a part-time recruiter for the agency’s placement department to find “forever homes” for children in Richland, Morrow and Huron counties. Agencies in those counties are partners with Richland County in the effort.
Richland County Children Services has 55 children in foster care, including 13 for whom parental rights have been terminated and who are available for adoption. Identified homes have been found for nine of those children.
“We are happy to partner with surrounding counties on this effort,” said RCCS Executive Director Patty Harrelson. “We are committed to finding forever homes for all children.”
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption awards grants to public and private adoption agencies to hire adoption professionals who implement proactive, child-focused recruitment programs targeted exclusively on moving America’s longest-waiting children from foster care into adoptive families.
These recruiters, work on caseloads of children in need of a permanent home, ensuring they have the time and resources to give each child as much attention as he or she deserves. These recruiters employ aggressive practices and proven tactics focused on finding the best home for a child through the starting points of familiar circles of family, friends and neighbors, and then reaching out to the communities in which they live.
Richland County Children Services is now accepting applications for the 20-hour per week position. To learn more about the position, visit the agency Web site at www.richlandcountychildrenservices.org.
Wendy’s Wonderful Kids has 185 recruiters working for children throughout the U.S. and Canada. The program has helped more than 3,600 children get adopted by their forever families. Recently released research from a five-year evaluation of Wendy’s Wonderful Kids shows children referred to the program are up to three times more likely to get adopted. For more information on the program, visit www.davethomasfoundation.org.
For more information on the grant and the position, please visit the Richland County Children Services Web site.