Mission
We provide at-risk children the opportunity to develop socially, emotionally and give them important life and work skills through the interactions of a dog. Our youngest participate in reading programs with our trained dogs. Teens with special needs, or those within the juvenile justice system, learn how to train dogs. Children are selected for our programs by therapists, counselors or teachers. Program participation is usually 12 weeks, or longer.
Ruling year
2016
Executive Director
Kelly Hodges
Main address
13525 N Hwy 301
Thonotossassa, FL 33592 USA
EIN
47-4925881
NTEE code
Youth Development Programs (O50)
Animal Training, Behavior (D61)
Specialized Education Institutions/Schools for Visually or Hearing Impaired, Learning Disabled (B28)
IRS filing requirement
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Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Kids and Canines serves children, as identified by their counselor, therapist or teacher, who can benefit socially, emotionally and by developing important life skills through interactions with rescue dogs. The children we serve have often faced hardships many of us cannot image and need extra help. The dogs break down barriers and allow children to heal, be healthy and learn important life skills.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Furry Tales
A 12-week, or longer, reading program that partners one at-risk elementary child with one volunteer or staff member and one dog with the purpose of encouraging reading and growing the child's comprehension and reading skills. Many of the children we serve live within the foster system, or with care givers other than their parents. Because of this the program provides books to the children they can keep. Teachers use our program as a reward for good behavior as many of the children have been identified with special needs and emotional behavior disabilities.
This program is only offered to Title I (high poverty schools or to children identified as special needs.)
Juvenile Justice ADAPT (A Dog Assisted Program for Therapy
Our ADAPT Programs are provided at different Department of Juvenile Justice facilities for both girls and boys currently in high or maximum security facilities. Teens participate in a 12-week Social Skills building program that addresses such issues as impulse control, decision making, emotional regulation, anger management, empathy, and coping skills. During the 12 weeks the youth not only gains skills to be more successful in the educational settings, but they also develop emotionally and socially through the interaction with a dog. We give them necessary work and life skills by learning how to train and interact with the dogs.
Many of the teens use the knowledge they gained to volunteer at local shelters or find jobs in the animal welfare industry. Regardless of where they go, the skills they learn will help them in their future endeavors.
ADAPT (A Dog Assisted Program for Therapy)
The Kids and Canines’ ADAPT Program is designed to empower disadvantaged youth to achieve success. All of the youth we work with have been identified by teachers, counselors and therapists and have been identified as having a special need (ESE student) within the public school system.
Our ADAPT Programs are provided at local Middle and High Schools who have been identified as having a high poverty rate.
Youth achieve success they go through a 12-week Social Skills building program that addresses such issues as impulse control, decision making, emotional regulation, anger management, empathy, and coping skills. During the 12 weeks the youth not only gains skills to be more successful in the educational settings, but they also develop emotionally and socially through the interaction with a dog. We give them necessary work and life skills by learning how to train and interact with the dogs.
Reading With Patriot
The Reading with Patriot Program is a a short-term program that utilizes a trained dog as a reading buddy for an entire classroom. In this program we have selected character-building books that are supported with additional classroom curriculum. This program is open to all educators, not just ESE teachers. Participants not only find reading enjoyable with the presence of the dog, they are incentivized to continue their reading. . When the child reads 10 or more books, we come back to the classroom to read the next book in the series. And we provide books to the kids that they can keep with the purpose of encouraging reading beyond the classroom.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of new donors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Kids and Canines had no donor database before 2017. Today we have over 1200 donors in our database. As we move forward this data becomes stronger.
Number of organizational partners
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our partners comprise of public schools, Department of Juvenile Justice facilities and other community service organizations with similar mission.
Number of camps offered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our camps are designed for children with special needs. Camps serve children ages 9 - 14. Because of the success our camps they typically sell out months in advance. Number reflects those attending.
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
At-risk youth
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our number of volunteers decreased with Covid and the schools and facilities closing to the public in 2021. We are continuing to build a stronger base of volunteers this year.
Total number of volunteer hours contributed to the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Volunteers have contributed over 5400 hours to our organization over the past five. As of May 2019 our volunteer hours are tracked through our volunteer management software.
Number of customers reporting satisfaction with program
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Results are determined via surveys from teachers, therapists and counselors. Customer satisfaction is tracked by percent of customers who reported being satisfied to extremely satisfied.
Total dollars received in contributions
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of participants changing undesirable behavior, as reported by experts
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
At-risk youth
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
All children in our programs are identified as having behavioral issues. Changes in undesirable behaviors are gather from teachers, therapists and counselors via pre and post survey assessments.
Number of program graduates
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
At-risk youth
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Every child graduated up completion of their programs. Certificates are awarded based on the child's individual skills.
Number of youth who demonstrate motivation to learn
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
At-risk youth
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This outcome measures the Furry Tales and Reading with Patriot Programs participants' motivation to read as obtained through teacher surveys. Reading with Patriot began in January 2019
Number of youth who demonstrate that they have developed social skills (e.g., interpersonal communication, conflict resolution)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
At-risk youth
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The youth are assess through counselor, therapist and teacher surveys in addition to our observations and feedback from the participants themselves.
Hours of literacy instruction delivered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
At-risk youth
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This outcome measure tracks the amount of reading support and mentoring provided in our Furry Tales and Reading with Patriot Program. The Reading with Patriot Program began in January 2019
Number of youth mentored
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
At-risk youth
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This measure includes the number of youth in out Camps, Teen and Detention programs
Number of youth who identify, manage, and appropriately express emotions and behaviors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
At-risk youth
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Pre and post assessment surveys are given to gather this information from teachers, counselors and therapists. Additionally feedback is obtained from staff, participants and volunteers.
Number of children who have a sense of their own feelings and an ability to express empathy for others
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Pre and post assessment surveys are give to gather this information from teachers, counselors, therapists and participants.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The magic of Kids and Canines is the connection formed between dog and child with special needs. We often work with children within the foster care system, or those living with caregivers other than their parents, helping them gain confidences, build self-esteem, find friendship learn coping skills and in our training programs job skills.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Offer two reading programs targeted for at-risk children in high poverty schools, or to those identified as having special needs. One program is a long-term program that focuses on reading comprehension. A shorter program focuses on character building. Both programs utilize the dogs to create a positive environment, have reading incentives and provides books for the children to keep.
Offer a dog training program to disadvantaged teens. The 9-month program teaches everything from dog handling to dog training. This program is offered to students with special needs and to teens within the Juvenile Justice system. The teen students learn social skills through interactions with the dogs, self-control, empathy and responsibility. Most importantly they are introduced to animal related job opportunities and are learning needed job skills that will help them in any career path they seek.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We have operated our programs to those identified by Hillsborough County School district (Tampa) as having the highest need for more than 20 years. While the program has changed to meet the evolving needs of the community our program services have a long-proven record. This is made possible by the talented, professional staff which include a professional dog trainer and licensed therapist. Additionally, we work closely with our partners and stakeholders to make sure we are meeting the needs of those in our programs.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We have worked with a child who missed more days than they attended in years have a perfect attendance ... because he said his dog needed him there to care for him every day. I have seen angry children, who have had brushes with the law, become protective, caring and more attune to the consequences of their actions. In the pilot program at the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice the lead trainers did not have one incident in 6 months which was unheard of. We have had teenagers who could barely fill out an application find work in animal related jobs. Daily we have children who cannot connect to the outside world connect to the dogs.
By using rescue dogs, we remind these children that everyone has value and deserves love.
As we grow, more demands for our services have come from teachers, counselors and therapists than we can currently meet. With additional funding we can easily serve more. We have a proven program and we are operationally ready to grow to serve many more.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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KIDS AND CANINES
Board of directorsas of 03/23/2023
Anita Teaney
Coca Cola
Term: 2019 - 2022
Chandra Bonardi
Banfield Pet Hospital
Kim Goldberg
One Source Advisory
Tanita Montgomery
Amgen
Kate Fate
Realtor
Dan Goldberg
One Source Advisory
Susan Zwiesler
Attorney (retired)
Prakash Kanchan
Mercer/ IT
Diane Jones
DJ Public Relations
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
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