About Us

We are people like you who want to restore opportunity to our abused and neglected youth in Milwaukee. We are parents and concerned citizens of all kinds - foster and kinship parents, birth parents and grandparents, child welfare professionals, health care providers, attorneys, the juvenile justice community - anyone with an interest in the best interests of our children. We are a small grassroots organization that puts volunteer energy into our neediest kids

	Programs
	Fostering Healing Children who have experienced trauma often spend time being cared for by relatives or foster parents. Fostering Healing is a program dedicated to children who are under child protection order or who live with relatives. We provide assistance to grandparents, relative kinship families, and foster parents.
	Kids Matter CASA Kids Matter CASA is an organization of volunteers that advocates for abused and neglected children in Milwaukee County Children’s Court.  Kids Matter CASA advocates for the rights of these children to grow up in a safe, nurturing and permanent homes.  Kids Matter CASA has trained over one hundred volunteers serving over one hundred fifty children.  Kids Matter CASA volunteers work with child protective services, the legal system and community resources to serve as the child’s advocate in court.
	Fostering Hope Many abused and neglected children enter foster care with little more than the clothes on their backs. A Fostering Hope package gives a child a little something to call his or her own, and a little something to do while waiting for a placement. Our Fostering Hope program gives abused and neglected children a book, a toy, personal hygiene items and a little hope in their own new duffel bag. Learn More
	Community Partnerships We explore options and resources for providing support to children and caregivers. Interested in being a partner of Kids Matter? Call or email for more information.
	Raising Issues to Help Our Kids   Ask a Question

 

Why We Exist

Kids Matter Inc, formerly In Their Best Interests, founded in 2000, is inspired by the compelling need to improve the lives of the many Milwaukee County children involved in the child welfare system. Far too many of these children are not thriving or finding permanent, loving homes. Youth in foster and kinship care...

• have the worst health status of any population of children in America;
• drop out of high school at twice the national rate;
• are 12 times more likely to end up homeless than other young adults.

Why you should care

If our abused and neglected children were brought together in one place, they would fill a small city. Yet they are almost invisible to the broader community. If you care, we can change that.