What is Kids Care United?

Read about this cause, below, or go straight to the Kids Care United blog.

Tom has been shunted from one foster home to another as his mother struggles to kick her drug habit. She manages to get clean long enough for him to be brought home, but quickly goes back to her old ways. So Tom is sent back into care, but the last foster family is no longer available; they’ve got someone new with them now. Tom feels like nobody cares about him. Soon his new “family” is kids in trouble, hanging out downtown.

Roberta has been abused by her stepfather. Her mom is afraid of him, and hasn’t found the right way to protect her daughter. Roberta starts acting out at school, so now her teachers are mad at her. Only 8 years old, she’s already thinking about suicide.

Please join our effort to improve the care of children in your city.

A few simple things you can do to start:

1. Sign up for the newsletter so I can keep you posted on how we are tackling this.
2. Follow the blog, and provide your comments and suggestions.
3. Join our Facebook page and invite others to do so.
4. Share your stories! Let’s make this personal for the people who have the power to change things, but aren’t aware of the need yet.

And please feel free to contact me directly if you have something to say and don’t want to post it publicly.

Why?

There are two reasons why we need to devote more attention and money to child welfare in this country:

1. Compassion. Why should Roberta, Tom and all the thousands of other neglected or abused children have to suffer because their parents have problems?
2. Self-interest. If Tom and Roberta can get the stability, support, and education they need, they can grow up as productive, contributing members of society. They may be the ones who come up with the next brilliant ideas that help make the world a better place. At a minimum, investing in them as children means that we’ll save money that would otherwise be spent on things like jails, addictions treatment programs, welfare, policing, etc. Research shows that every dollar we invest now saves us $7 down the road.