Mississippi Families for Kids

Mississippi Families for Kids is a statewide, private 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization with the mission to ensure that every child in foster care and in the child welfare system finds a permanent home. Established in 1994 through a grant from the Kellogg Foundation and incorporated in 1998, Mississippi Families for Kids is funded through individual donations, business contributions, Wendy’s franchisees, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, and through our annual Children’s Golf Classic. Mississippi Families for Kids was initiated to implement child focused, solution based, permanency-planning programs for the State of Mississippi. Top priority is given to those children who are presently in the adoption and foster care system. The agency also serves those families who are at risk of coming into the child welfare system. Many of the children we serve are hard to place, such as older children, those with special needs, and those who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned. These children are often moved from foster home to foster home, which leads to a sense of instability and distrust. Children coming from this kind of living situation often develop negative behaviors such as lying and stealing. These children are more likely to drop out of high school than other youth, commit violent crimes, have difficulty finding stable employment, frequently depend on public assistance as adults, and often find themselves homeless.