For over 40 years, Kids In Distress (KID) has been carrying out its mission to prevent child abuse, preserve the family, and treat children who have been abused and/or neglected, but we haven’t done it alone.
We are able to do this because individuals, corporations, and foundations value and invest in the lives of children and families we serve through our foster care, education, prevention and family strengthening programs. The generous support we receive enables us to remain the premier provider of children and family services in South Florida.
Carnival and Carnival Foundation have been making waves that matter to KID since the 1980’s. From supporting babies in our emergency shelter in the early years, to ensuring an excellent start for young learners in our preschool, to now strengthening families currently in crisis within our community, Carnival has always answered the call to enrich the lives of those in need. The Foundation’s commitment to come alongside KID to encourage, educate, empower and equip the children and families we serve annually is greatly needed and appreciated by those whose lives are being transformed.
Our KID FIRST (KID Family, Intervention, Response, & Support Team) is designed to educate and strengthen families by increasing parenting skills and protective factors while decreasing the risk of child maltreatment, child removal, and child dependency system involvement. This voluntary, community-based, in-home program serves at-risk families reported to the child abuse registry or those that have been brought to the attention of law enforcement and/or social services agencies as needing immediate intervention. Family issues of domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health and homelessness are addressed by KID FIRST, in addition to dysfunctional behavioral and lifestyle challenges that weaken a family’s ability to thrive.
The outstanding KID FIRST team, comprised of human service professionals with 128 years of combined experience, provides parent training, supportive counseling, conflict resolution, child development, advocacy and guidance and offers 24 hour on-call crisis intervention to all enrolled families. KID FIRST strengthens 415 families annually through parenting competency, capacity, and improved family communication and functioning. By generously funding KID FIRST, the Carnival Foundation has supported over 2,200 South Florida families and counting.
