Important program update
The Family Resource and Training Center wishes to extend a heartfelt thank you to every one of you who has had such a caring heart for the youth we have served through this program for the past 10 years.
Please read the information below outlining how the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare plans to continue its diligent efforts to find permanency for all children in foster care in Idaho.
Please complete inquiries for any youth you are interested in as soon as possible so that we may process your inquiry before our website closes.
July 28, 2026
To Our Community Partners,
The Idaho Department of Health & Welfare has been proud to partner with Eastern Washington University (EWU) and other community partners to recruit adoptive families for Idaho’s children in foster care. Since Idaho’s Wednesday’s Child began over 25 years ago, the landscape of adoption from foster care has changed yet there continues to be a need for child-specific recruitment for youth most in-need of a permanent home. Over the years the department has reorganized how permanency cases are managed to address this need and to achieve timely permanency for children who cannot return home. These changes include permanency workers “teaming” earlier with family services workers and the addition of a Family Find team to help identify previously unknown relatives and connections for our youth in care. Meanwhile, advances in technology and social media have resulted in increased risks related to public profiles causing Idaho and other states to consider the long-term impact to the youth featured.
The Idaho Department of Health & Welfare is in a position to innovate practices for child-specific recruitment while demonstrating fiscal responsibility. With this in mind, the contract for Wednesday’s Child, Waiting Families and intensive recruitment services is ending effective 09/30/2026. These services will be provided through Youth Safety & Permanency team members beginning October 1, 2026. During this transition, the current website for Idaho Wednesday’s Child will be unavailable while an updated website is created for both our waiting children and waiting families. Idaho will continue to use the AdoptUSKids website during the transition to ensure ongoing efforts to achieve permanency for waiting children.
Thank you for your continued support and advocacy on behalf of Idaho’s children.
Thank you,
Jean M. Fisher
Becoming an adoptive parent is no small task. Like the word 'hero' defines, it takes COURAGE to invite children into your family, home and life and care for them in a way that heals them by providing structure, stability, love and commitment.
The Idaho Wednesday’s Child Program no longer accepts formal inquiries for a specific youth from families who do not yet have a current approved adoption home study completed. No adoption can move forward without a completed home study.
In addition, due to confidentiality restrictions, the child’s adoption caseworker cannot provide you with further personal information about the child until your home study is complete.
Having a completed home study will help the process of adoption from foster care move forward much more expeditiously and provides the child's permanency team with the information needed to determine whether your family may be the best fit for the child you are interested in.
Because formal inquiries for a specific youth are not accepted without a Home Study, it is important to think about getting one as soon as possible! If you are unsure of the process of obtaining a Home Study reach out and we can assist. mlloyd7@ewu.edu
We understand that the wait involved in adopting from foster care can be lengthy and frustrating at times. The initial inquiry process can take several weeks before a connection can be made between an inquiring family and the Permanency Team of a Waiting Child. Once that connection is made, it also takes time for the team to get to know more about your family in order to determine whether or not your family is a good fit for the child you are interested in. While much of the wait is an inevitable part of the process, we would love to help you make the best use possible of your time by providing resources about how childhood trauma can affect the social, emotional, medical, behavioral and academic needs of children who come from hard places. This information will give your family a great head start on understanding the needs of the child you hope to adopt.
