About KID:
Our mission at Kids In Distress (KID) is to prevent child abuse, preserve the family, and treat children who have been abused and neglected. Recognized as a premier agency in South Florida, we provide family strengthening services as well as children's services for more than 6,000 children and their families. All of our programs and services are designed specifically to give children and their families the tools, skills, services, and education they need to maintain a safe, stable, and healthy environment in which to thrive.
Started in a small house in 1979 as an emergency shelter for the youngest victims of abuse and neglect, we have since expanded services and grown to a 5-acre campus in Broward County with a satellite office in Palm Beach County. We are also the largest provider of foster homes in both Broward and Palm Beach counties, many of which become adoptive homes for children who cannot be reunified with their biological families. We operate one of the only remaining emergency shelters for children ages birth to 15 years of age, and a family counseling center for counseling and therapy needs.
Along with our adoptive and shelter services, Kids In Distress allocates more than 60% of our agency budget toward programs that are community-based. We offer in-home, family strengthening programs that care for and educate pregnant women and new mothers, programs that assist families with issues of domestic violence, substance abuse, and extreme economic stress, and we provide assistance in accessing everything from food stamps and employment assistance to housing and legal assistance. More recently, we are now able to provide optical and dental care for children in our community who, in many cases, have never been to a dentist or optometrist.
Stabilizing families is the cornerstone of healthy, economically viable, and safe neighborhoods and communities. Last year, in Broward County alone, there were 14,086 reported cases of abuse and neglect which is a 5% increase over the prior year. Kids In Distress works every day to change that by leading efforts in prevention, intervention, and treatment of child abuse, providing services that successfully educate, care for, and preserve the health and wellness of vulnerable children and families in our community.
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