Kids In Danger

Ultimately, we would like to see no injuries or death to children as a result of unsafe children’s products. This is a lofty goal, but we work each day with the intention of seeing this goal realized. In the past 20 years, KID has set the stage for a future free from product related injuries and deaths. Just a year after KID founding, the city of Chicago passed an ordinance to prevent the sale of recalled products. We then drafted and shepherded the nation’s most comprehensive statewide legislation on children’s product safety, the Illinois Children’s Product Safety Act through the Illinois legislature. Since 1998, we have worked to pass that law which has been adopted in 10 other states to date. Then in 2008, there was the groundbreaking Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. KID was deeply involved in CPSIA’s passage and the provisions of Danny’s Law that are currently overhauling children’s product safety oversight. Our advocacy is one major component of our multi-pronged effort to achieve our goal of an injury and death free environment for children.

Our strategy to achieve this goal is a three pronged effort. In addition to our advocacy work, KID generates awareness and facilitates education of child product safety ideas. We attend community events in a variety of locations to get the word out to parents and caregivers about unsafe products and provide them with resources to keep their children safe. Additionally, we interact with parents and caregivers regularly; sending educational publications such as a monthly email alert and bi- annual newsletter. Further, we partner with online parenting and grand parenting communities and serve as a safety resource for thousands of additional parents and grandparents. This is in addition to our own online community, which is updated daily with the latest recalls and product safety news. Finally, we have provided millions of caregivers and parents with the tools they need to keep their children safe through our safety workshop, Creating safe environments for children

Through this combination of education, awareness, and advocacy we have been able to make a lasting impact on the child product safety landscape. While much as been accomplished in this past 15 years, much more work needs to get done in order to accomplish an injury and death free environment for children.

As the only non-profit organization dedicated to improving the safety of children's products, KID and its supporters work tirelessly to keep kids safe. KID is able to work effectively within the constraints of its shoestring budget with a small but dedicated workforce of three full-time staff members, including Executive Director Nancy Cowles, Program Director Laura Nikolovska, and Director of Development Karen Yellen Dillon. KID is governed by a 13-member board of directors with four additional advisory board members. Joining these efforts are four part-time student interns, eight regularly scheduled volunteers and numerous seasonal volunteers who combined volunteered 2142 hours in 2013.

Generous individual and corporate donors support KID's ongoing efforts by providing the funds to publish educational materials, further outreach with workshops and caregiver trainings and more. In fiscal year 2013, individuals accounted for 69% of the sources of support for KID, followed by corporations at 24% and foundation support at 7%. With the help of these donations, grants, matching gifts, and in-kind donations, KID is able to focus on programming, with 85% of FY2013 expenses allocated to this area. Since its founding in 1998, KID has had individual donors representing 41 states and the District of Columbia.

For over fifteen years, KID has worked to connect with local and national safety alliances, community leaders, and family networks to spread its lifesaving message. Partnerships with organizations such as Chicago's Neighborhood Parents Network, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Parent Tested Parent Approved and many more have been instrumental in reaching a larger network of families and caregivers. In the future, KID hopes to develop further connections with similar organizations and alliances to promote injury prevention.

KID increases awareness of child product safety issues and dangerous recalls through a number of mediums. KID supporters can stay updated on current safety information via various social media outlets, KID's website and frequently updated blog, monthly e-mail reports, and newsletters that reach an audience of over 3,000 supporters. Our Safe from the Start program provides local workshops for parents, grandparents, and childcare providers in the community, and KID is frequently featured as a panelist at national conferences that focus on product safety and injury prevention. KID advocates to improve child product safety standards and strengthen outreach efforts on a local, regional and national level, ensuring more families and caregivers have access to important safety information.

As mentioned, major state and federal legislation concerning children’s product safety has been passed since KID’s creation in 1998. One of our most significant accomplishments was the passage of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). As a result of this legislation, cribs made for our youngest children have to meet the strongest safety standards in the world. There is no doubt that countless lives of children have been saved from death and injury as a result of this landmark legislation, a section of which was named in honor of KID’s founder’s son, Danny Keysar. We consider this to be a major accomplishment of the organization and as a result new legislation has been created to spur the development of tougher safety standards for other children’s products including play yards and bassinets. Currently, there are 25 categories of children’s products ID'ed by the CPSC. Twenty-two have mandatory safety standards thanks in large parts to KID’s efforts. Three additional products currently don’t have safety standards, and KID works each day to see this changed as well as cover new products as they enter the market.