ALAMOSA — The Alamosa County Department of Human Services works with the San Luis Valley Foster Care to help with adoptions around the county. They are taking that a step farther and wanting to set up a contract with Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program.

It will partner up with the Colorado Department of Human Services, the adoption exchange, The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and the county. This program assists counties with adoption or permanent placement for those who have been in the system for a while.

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption created the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program. This organization gives funds to adoption agencies, which hire adoption professionals. The adoption recruiters would help individual cases with asking about their past and trying to find where each case would best fit.

The foundation drives awareness using a multi-platform strategy that includes free resources, social media, pubic service announcements and sponsorships. This will give those children in foster care a permanent home anywhere around the nation.

One of the main focuses will be working with children who are at risk of aging out of the system and who have failed adoptions. More specifically, Human Services Director Catherine Salazar said they are focusing first on four children. All four of children are older, between the ages of 10 and 16, who have been in care for the longest.

There are successful rates around other counties who have used this program before. Human services can track how the kids are doing and keep track of their progress throughout the search.

Kristin Hicks is an intern at the Valley Courier.