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Wendy's for Adoption

Tue, 2008-08-19 20:24 - almost_human

So today I went through Wendy's drive-through and they asked me if I wanted to donate $1 for adoption ! ? !

I went to their website,
http://www.davethomasfoundation.org/Our-Work/Wendy-s-Wonderful-Kids
to investigate, and it says:

The Foundation awards grants to local adoption organizations to hire recruiters to execute aggressive child-focused recruitment programs targeted exclusively on placing foster care children with adoptive families.

"We asked adoption agencies across America what was preventing them from moving children from foster care to permanent homes. They told us they do not have adequate time or resources to focus exclusively on these children," says Rita Soronen, executive director of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. "Wendy's Wonderful Kids is a proven program that demands results, accountability and quality service on behalf of the children who need us most.

and also

"In just two short years, Wendy's Wonderful Kids grew from seven to 105 recruiters, and from seven states to all 50, the District of Columbia and Canada," says Soronen, "and the program has helped more than 1,000 children be matched with or adopted by their forever families. With the latest expansion to all 50 states and continued growth during the next three years, Wendy's Wonderful Kids will be able to meet its goal of helping 8,000 - 10,000 children be adopted or matched with families by 2010.

I couldn't find any information on WHICH agencies they promote, whether this "aggressive recruiting" is actually for foster children in the state systems, or if it also includes non-profit and for profit adoptions.

Anyone else know? 

Comments

Tue, 2008-08-19 21:54 — Niels

Some of the agencies

The Dave Thomas Foundation is exclusive geared towards adoption from foster care. A few of the adoption agencies that received grants from the foundation are:

  • Spaulding for Children (Michigan)
  • Roots Adoption Agency (Georgia) 
  • The Villages (Indiana)
  • National Adoption Center (Pennsylvania)
  • Children Awaiting Parents (New York)
Fri, 2008-08-29 08:44 — Kerry

Study findings in a pdf

I found a 2007 study called "National Foster Care Adoption Attitudes Survey", which was commissioned by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and conducted by Harris Interactive.

Within the first few sentences, you will read the industrial push for adoption that really concerns me: 

Americans overwhelmingly support the concept of adoption and in particular foster care adoption. And yet, foster care adoptions have not increased significantly over the past five years and 114,000 children, through no fault of their own, wait in temporary care for a permanent family. http://www.davethomasfoundation.org/getdoc/cccfaa47-41e3-4527-8486-18edab8946a9/ExecutiveSummary_FINAL_For_Printing

Call me crazy, but shouldn't all efforts go towards child placement reform so a better, safer foster-care system can be created for the children who need it?  Given the conditions so many foster kids are living in, how does pushing more adoptions solve the problem of crap corrupt and negligent foster-care?

Yes, according to Dave Thomas' dream, "Every child deserves a safe, loving permanant family".... but no where is it written that adoption guarantees love or safety for a child.

Fri, 2008-08-29 16:45 — Niels

Adoption from foster care

Adoption from foster care was unheard of before the late 1970's and was pushed by several of the large adoption agencies that saw their businesses dwindling in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade. By the end of the 70's domestic adoption has plummeted in several years and in a need to open new markets, the concept of permanency in foster care was invented to protect these businesses from going down.

Dont take my word for it, listen to what Annette Baran, an agency worker in that period of time has to say about it (6:15 onwards):


The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) doesn't speak of permanency, which is an industry invention. The UNCRC instead speaks of continuity of care which is an entirely different concept and it applies to the entire process, not just the finalization stage, known as adoption. For the the permanency promotors it is a blessing foster children are moved from one foster home to another, so they can speak of it as a disgrace that needs to be remedied with their big selling point: adoption.

I would say, if foster care is not a stable system for children, then make foster care a stable system for children. You cannot make the system better by maintaining the disease and treating the symptoms.

Of course there is more money to be made with the latter approach and we see it all around us. Criminality is not addressed by treating the diseasse but by building more prisons; teen pregnancies is not addressed by treating the disease but by promoting adoption (the reality is even more sinister, since the disease is actually fed by instituting abstinence only sex education); health is not improved by prevention, but by pushing more of the same old pills (slightly changed formulas can keep the same old shit patented for another eight years).

For Wendy's it's just business as usual. They can promote themselves and use the legacy of their misguided founder to push more of their products on the market with the support of senators and representatives that ride the saviour boat.