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
This is Axel, an amazing teen who is SO much fun to spend time with! Axel is kind, funny, caring, engaging and wait for it... he also loves to keep his room really clean and organized! Disney movies; video and board games; drawing; and reading comic books and Percy Jackson novels are just a few of this well-rounded young man’s favorite hobbies. He plays baseball and basketball whenever he can and is a huge Boise State fan. Axel also enjoys things like going for walks; playing games at the arcade; listening to old-school Guns and Roses music and eating plenty of Burger King cheeseburgers. He’s always down for experiencing new things and is excited to try his hand next at learning chess and going camping!
Axel is an extremely resilient boy who has shown so much growth in all areas of his life over the past year. He is currently most proud of how hard he has worked to overcome his speech impediment and to get better at reading. In fact, he’s gotten so good that now he actually enjoys reading to other people! Axel always gives his best in school and especially likes his science class and learning about chemical reactions.
Axel dreams of a family who will stick by him when he has a hard time and celebrate him when he accomplishes things. He would love to have a mom and a dad who live in a city and would prefer to be the only child in the home, but might be open to siblings in the right situation. Axel needs parents who can provide structure and clear expectations, who are calm and affectionate and who enjoy doing a lot of family activities together. Speaking of family activities, get your bags packed because Axel has his sights set on a future trip with his Forever Family to either New York or Disneyland!
The family chosen for Axel is going to be so lucky to have him in their life! They’ll get to watch him grow, thrive and accomplish so many things as he heads into young adulthood. Axel has the will and the drive to make a wonderful life for himself, he just needs the support of a family to make his dreams come true. Could you be the right fit for Axel? Inquire today for more information!
The Idaho Wednesday's Child Program prioritizes the safety and security of children, above all else. In an effort to protect the safety of the youth we serve, our process requires families to possess a current, approved adoption home study. Only families with a current home study can view youth's full profiles with videos and photos and submit inquiries, on the Secure Gallery Page.