The story of KIND

KIND was founded by the Microsoft Corporation and UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie, and is the leading national organization that works to ensure that no refugee or immigrant child faces immigration court alone. We do this in partnership with over 600 law firms, corporate legal departments, law schools, and bar associations. KIND has served more than 18,300 children since 2009, and trained over 42,000 private sector attorneys, paralegals, and law students to provide them with high quality representation in their deportation proceedings. KIND promotes protection of children in countries of origin and transit countries and works to address the root causes of child migration from Central America. KIND also advocates to change law, policy, and practices to improve the protection of unaccompanied children in the United States, by educating policymakers, the media, and the broader public about the violence that is driving children out of Central America and their need for protection.

History of KIND Timeline

(link to PDF of updated 10 yr timeline)

Our Leadership

Feature Resource

Keeping Kids Safe Campaign Fact Sheet

Across the globe, a record number of children are migrating alone due to war, poverty, violence, disease, climate change, and political upheaval. In 2021, over 36 million children were forcibly displaced from their homes. More than half of the world’s 26 million registered refugees are children. Some of these children migrate alone, without a parent […]

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Feature Resource

Keeping Kids Safe Campaign Principles

Kids in Need of Defense’s (KIND) Keeping Kids Safe campaign seeks to transform the systems for protecting child migrants. Too many of the world’s children are at risk. War, poverty, disease, climate change, political upheaval, and corruption around the globe can place children in the crosshairs of danger. By the end of 2021, over 36 […]

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Feature Resource

Six Ways to Protect Children Alone at the U.S.-Mexico Border

Following the end of Title 42 and the implementation of the Biden Administration’s new asylum ban in May, children remain vulnerable to harm at the U.S.-Mexico border. While unaccompanied children are largely exempt from the new border regulations, dangerous waiting conditions in Mexico and confusion regarding the Administration’s new policies can contribute to their vulnerability. […]

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Feature Post

Mental Health and Unaccompanied Children: An Interview with Humanitarian Psychiatrist Dr. Suzan Song

Dr. Suzan Song is a humanitarian psychiatrist and leading expert in trauma-informed clinical care, research, and public health policy for vulnerable populations, including unaccompanied children. She is the Director of Global Child and Family Mental Health at Harvard/Boston Children’s Hospital.     This Mental Health Awareness Month, KIND spoke to Dr. Song to discuss her work […]

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KIND President Wendy Young on PBS NewsHour

Voices from the kids

"They took me somewhere after I was separated; I remember adults and children were held together, but I only had me. I did not have anyone else" "I feel sad all the time. I don't have anyone to talk to when I feel like this. I just want to go home."
10-year-old detained child
"Los mareros las enamoran. Se van de casa. Las utilizan para ganancia. Las prostituyen o hace lo que quieren con ellas. The gang members seduce them. They leave home. They use them for profit. They prostitute them or do what they want with them. "
Young Girl Honduras
"The journey was not easy, but it has been amazing to get to know new people, myself, and the ability I did not know I have to overcome my fears and challenges."
Alejandra KIND Client

For press inquiries please contact KIND’s Communications Team:

Megan McKenna, Senior Director of Communications and Community Engagement        mmckenna@supportkind.org

Alexandra Pender, Senior Communications Manager, apender@supportkind.org

Alejandra Paz, Communications Project Coordinator, apaz@supportkind.org