The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (DFTA) in partnership with Blue Meridian seeks to scale Wendy’s Wonderful Kids (WWK), an evidence-based child-focused adoption recruitment model in all 50 states’ child welfare systems. The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) will partner with the foundation to build the capacity of DFTA staff to integrate implementation science into their technical assistance approach for WWK scaling states. The goals of the DFTA/NIRN partnership are to build the capacity of DFTA and its WWK scaling states to promote effective implementation of WWK and to integrate and sustain the model into adoption services so that intended outcomes can be achieved.

The goals of the partnership will be reached through the following activities:

• develop and deliver implementation science learning events with DFTA staff supporting WWK scaling states,
• facilitate virtual application groups with DFTA staff between onsite learning events, and
• develop an implementation science toolkit to support a stage-based approach for implementing WWK in scaling states.