Youth Villages is a national leader in mental and behavioral health committed to finding the most effective solutions to help children, families and young adults overcome obstacles and live successfully. Working through direct services, partnerships, with innovative public agencies and advocacy, we collaborate to bring positive change to child welfare, children’s mental health and justice systems. Last fiscal year, our 5,000 employees served more than 50,000 children and young adults in more than 120 locations in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Youth Villages has been recognized by the Harvard Business School and U.S. News & World Report and was identified by The White House as one of the nation’s most promising results-oriented nonprofit organizations.
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a national, nonprofit public charity dedicated to dramatically increasing the number of adoptions of children waiting in North America's foster care systems. Created by Wendy’s® founder Dave Thomas, who was adopted, the Foundation implements evidence-based, results-driven national service programs and builds awareness around the growing need and importance of foster care adoption in various ways. We also develop resources for employers and families to support the adoption journey.
Through our signature program, Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, the Foundation provides grants to adoption agencies to hire and train recruiters in our child-focused recruitment model to find loving, permanent homes for children in foster care. This model is up to three times more effective at serving children who have been in foster care the longest, including older youth, siblings and children with special needs.
The Foundation offers a free library of resources to help families navigate the adoption journey, such as Finding Forever Families: A Step-by-Step Guide to Adoption and Strengthen Your Forever Family: A Step-by-Step Guide to Post-Adoption. The Foundation also works to build awareness around the growing need and importance of adoption from foster care through public service announcements, social media campaigns, articles, events, sponsorships and more.