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The KIDSFIRST Program at St. John’s provides emergency
shelter care for Grand Rapids and Kent County children of all ages who are
removed from their own homes because of abuse or neglect. Any county Children’s
Protective Services worker or police officer can bring a child to KIDSFIRST at
any hour of the day or night, secure in the knowledge that every such youngster
will be warmly welcomed into a safe, nurturing and comfortable refuge, and
confident that all of the child’s immediate needs will be promptly met.
The carefully selected KIDSFIRST staff well understand that children entering
the program are often confused, sometimes are injured in ways that are not yet
apparent and almost always are frightened at having been suddenly uprooted from
their homes and thrust into the care of strangers. As its name implies,
KIDSFIRST places the needs and feelings of such traumatized youngsters
uppermost on its priority list. Sometimes these needs require expert medical
attention. Other times the needs are as down-to-earth as a good meal, a warm
bath and a clean set of clothes or just a quiet talk, a reassuring hug and a
cup of hot chocolate in the middle of a frightening night. Sometimes it is
simply a warm blanket, a familiar teddy bear and a cozy lap in which to curl
up.
KIDSFIRST serves 700 battered or neglected children each year and it is the hub
of child welfare services in Grand Rapids. The program represents a unique
partnership between St. John’s and the Kent County Family Independence Agency
in collaboration with the Family Court, the DeVos Children’s Hospital and all
children’s agencies in the Grand Rapids area.
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