2026 Recruiter of the Year: Sandra from California
During the 2026 Wendy’s Wonderful Kids® Summit, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption recognized Sandra, a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiter with Ventura County Human Services Agency in California, as a Recruiter of the Year.
Through our Wendy’s Wonderful Kids program, the Foundation supports the hiring of professionals, known as recruiters, who are dedicated to finding permanent families for children lingering in foster care. These professionals use an evidence-based, child-focused recruitment model to find the right family for every child in their care.
A rigorous, five-year national evaluation revealed that the model is up to 3x more effective at serving the longest-waiting children in care. That includes teenagers, children with special needs and siblings.
“Sandra has this unique way of being able to connect with the youth and the families that we serve,” said Maria, a child welfare social worker at Ventura County Children & Family Services. “She continues to show up and build that rapport and trust with the youth that eventually helps [them] open up and be more open to talking about permanency.”
Sandra exemplifies collaborative leadership through her strong communication, empathy and transparency with the youth and families she serves. Guided by a clear vision centered on uplifting youth voices, Sandra approaches challenging situations with creativity and resilience, consistently thinking outside the box to find solutions on the journey to permanency.
“Being recognized as a Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Recruiter of the Year is a great honor, and it has been a deeply humbling experience doing the work that we do. We don’t seek recognition in this field. We don’t expect any fanfare or anything. The focus is on the child, on the children, youth that we work with and their families,” Sandra shared.
“Every youth deserves permanency. Every human being deserves permanency. And it’s important for the youth to feel that sense of belonging, to feel that they have someone in their life that loves and cares about them forever.”
Congratulations, Sandra, and thank you for sharing our belief that a permanent family is possible for every child … no matter their story.
