BEST Kids, Inc., is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides mentoring to foster care children in the District of Columbia’s Child Welfare System. Foster care children are the most at-risk population of children in America. Research studies show that, four years after being emancipated from foster care, fewer than 1 in 5 of these youth were completely self-supporting, a quarter had never earned a high school diploma or GED, half were currently unemployed and 70 percent of the females had given birth.

In the District of Columbia, a child will spend an average of  48.4 months in foster care. This is almost double the national average stay of 27.2 months in care. In the District, 92.6% of youth eligible for adoption will wait more than two years for families, while nationally 84% of adoptable youth will enter permanent homes within a year.

BEST Kids is operating under the first ever Volunteer Mentor Partnership Grant with the District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency. Under the VMP Grant, BEST Kids mentoring program is able to provide volunteer mentors for children as young as six and continue, as needed, until they reach the age of eighteen years old. BEST Kids asks mentors to commit to at least one year of mentoring and to perform, on average, 10 hours a month of face-to-face contact.

BEST Kids was started in 2001 by Todd Leibbrand, who served as a Volunteer Advocate and a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for over ten years to two boys in foster care in the District of Columbia. Todd saw the tremendous need for a positive adult role model in the boys’ lives and wanted to help other boys and girls in the same way. Todd now serves as President of the Board of Directors and is assisted by many professionals and child advocates who have deep experience in working with and reaching this population. We invite you to click on our Board of Directors, Staff, and Advisory Board links on the right side of the page to get a better understanding of the breadth of experience contributing to BEST Kids. The organization currently is funded by the VMP grant and individual donations and is seeking corporate and foundation assistance, as well.

We encourage you to explore our site and, if you are interested in becoming more involved, please contact us.