7.19.2000 ET

(CSRwire) Wednesday's Child, a weekly televised adoption feature, is coming to Los Angeles' KTTV Fox 11 on July 19 to help recruit families for Los Angeles-area foster children who need immediate adoptive homes, thanks to a cooperative program announced today by the Freddie Mac Foundation, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), and Fox 11.

"Wednesday's Child is an award-winning program with a track record of success, and we are proud to expand our support of this program to Los Angeles. We've now gone coast to coast in our commitment to help find permanent homes for children in foster care. Along with our partners-Fox 11 and DCFS-we look forward to brightening the future for more children," said Leland C. Brendsel, Chairman and CEO, Freddie Mac, and Chairman, Freddie Mac Foundation.

Fox 11's award-winning Fox 11 News at 10 has been airing Sunday's Child for five years. Now the segment will be called Wednesday's Child and will profile children in the care of DCFS who fall into the "hard to place" or "special needs" categories, meaning they are older children or part of a large sibling group, or children with special medical or physical needs. Each spot will provide viewers with the DCFS adoptive parent recruitment hotline (1-800-201-5700) to call for more information. DCFS will answer hotline calls, identify children, and match children with prospective parents.

"We are pleased to be included in this significant national initiative that will make a difference in the lives of many Los Angeles children," said Anita Bock, executive director, DCFS. "We're working hard to keep children out of the foster care system, but for those who are, programs like Wednesday's Child will supplement our continuing efforts to find loving, permanent homes for our children as quickly as possible."

A two-year, nearly $1.2 million grant from the Freddie Mac Foundation is helping make Wednesday's Child possible. Starting this week on Fox 11 News at 10, Fox 11 Anchor/Reporter Christine Devine, will host segments featuring Los Angeles children in foster care who immediately need an adoptive home. The features will air weekly on Wednesdays and again on Fox 11's Sunday evening newscasts. Wednesday's Child will generate awareness about the 50,000 Los Angeles-area children in foster care as well as strive to find loving families for those available for adoption.

According to David Boylan, Vice President and General Manager, KTTV Fox 11, "We've been committed to helping the children of Los Angeles and our community for many years. We are excited to be able to focus more time and resources to make this adoption program work even better to find loving parents and homes for these special children. This program will serve as a source of inspiration and information for those wanting to get involved in some way."

The segment is expected to generate even more response since more resources will be dedicated to producing the segment. In addition, the feature will be branded, run twice a week, air earlier in the newscast, and be supported by regular promotions to increase viewership. The grant also helps DCFS make infrastructure improvements to answer inquiries faster and more efficiently as well as respond to increased volume.

Wednesday's Child has been a successful segment in Washington, DC where it airs on WRC-TV. In its eight years, the WRC-TV Wednesday's Child feature has helped place more than 130 children-40 percent of the featured children-and has generated thousands of viewer inquiries about adoption. Due to the sheer size of the Los Angeles market, similar or even better results are anticipated for this program.

The Wednesday's Child launch in Los Angeles is part of the Freddie Mac Foundation's campaign to increase adoptions nationwide called "Wednesday's Child USA." Currently, more than 500,000 children are in foster care in the United States. The Foundation is focused on finding more adoptive homes for the 100,000 children currently available for adoption by sponsoring Wednesday's Child television programs in Washington, DC, New York City, Chicago, and now Los Angeles. To further support the campaign, the Foundation raises funds from Freddie Mac's business partners through its Wednesday's Child 5K race series.

For more information about Wednesday's Child, visit the Fox 11 web site at www.fox11la.com.

Created by Freddie Mac in 1990 under the leadership of Chairman Leland C. Brendsel, the Freddie Mac Foundation is dedicated to brightening the future for children, youth, and families at risk. As one of the largest corporate funders in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, Freddie Mac and the Freddie Mac Foundation have invested nearly $80 million in nonprofit organizations serving children and families.