After 34 years as ChildServ, the Chicago-based child welfare agency officially announced that it has changed its name and visual identity to Kids Above All. The transition, which took effect on June 15, 2020, marked the fifth time in history that the agency has rebranded and marked the culmination of a two-year process to examine how best the organization can expand its impact in and around Chicago. With this transition, the agency retains its 126-year mission to protect, heal and educate children and families so they can build better lives.

“Kids Above All is a statement of priority and principle. It’s a defiant and powerful call to action, challenging every member of the community to place the safety, well-being and education of all kids above everything else,” said Kids Above All President and CEO Dan Kotowski. “We are the forward momentum behind our kids, and we need to, once and for all, stand up for them so they can rise above their challenges and achieve their potential.

“Kids Above All” is also an agent for increased advocacy for equal justice, equal rights and equal opportunity for all kids, in every community. The organization is drawing a line in the sand—saying ‘enough is enough!’ Too many children, especially children from black and brown communities, endure the daily trauma of racism, poverty and violence, and suffer or die as a result. Kids Above All will continue to call out and take on centuries-old injustices that plague our country, consciously working to affect positive change.

In addition, Kids Above All will expand its home-based early childhood and daycare programs to address a growing need in communities across the Chicago area. Those services – along with its work in foster care and adoption, housing for teens and formerly homeless young adults, and counseling – help kids, youth and families who are at risk in Cook, DuPage, Kane and Lake counties to have the best life possible.

Kids Above All was founded in 1894 as the Methodist Deaconess Orphanage, in Lake Bluff, Illinois. Throughout its history, the organization has enjoyed a strong mission partnership with the Northern Illinois Conference of The United Methodist Church and its congregations, which has improved the lives of more than 145,000 kids and families. Last year, 34 churches contributed and volunteered during Kids Above All’s annual Back-to-School Backpack and Holiday Gift drives.

In 2019, Kids Above All served 2,617 children and families in and around Chicago so they can live long, productive and happy lives. To learn more and connect with Kids Above All, visit www.KidsAboveAll.org or contact Manager of Faith and Community Relations Catherine Inserra, Deaconess, at cinserra@kidsaboveall.org or 847.224.2870.

*Catherine Inserra is a Deaconess in the NIC and Manager of Faith & Community Relations for Kids Above All