Kids In Danger

Kids in Danger (KID) was an American non-profit dedicated to educating parents, training engineers, designers, and manufacturers, and advocating for improvements in children's product safety in cribs, toys, bathtub seats, bunk beds, car seats, carriers, costumes, crib bumpers, high chairs, gates, play yards, strollers, walkers, and other potentially dangerous items. The organization closed its doors December 2024, and many of its primary projects are now housed with other organizations. For instance, the KID Design Safety Toolkit is now with the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization and the Recall Alerts are now distributed by Reese's Purpose. While KID was active, its website supplied listings of products recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and provided suggestions and information on how to protect children. KID also worked alongside other groups such as the Consumer Federation of America and Consumer Reports in order to improve product safety. All of these groups - Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, Reese Purpose and ICPHSO - continue to be resources on product safety.

KID was founded in 1998 by two professors at the University of Chicago, Linda Ginzel and Boaz Keysar, after their son Danny was killed by a crib that had been recalled five years previously. Danny's parents resolved to take action and founded KID. Congressman Bobby L. Rush and Senator Dick Durbin, both of Illinois, held hearings on the topic of dangerous children's toys in June, 2007 at which KID's Executive Director Nancy Cowles testified along with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and others.

In 2005, Illinois passed legislation that required the Illinois Department of Public Health to place children's product recalls on its website as well as to link to the CPSC site

In September, 2007, the head of the CPSC testified on product safety in Congress and one report noted "After years of sparsely attended congressional hearings, Nancy A. Nord, acting chairman of the CPSC, was greeted by a standing-room-only crowd at her September appearance before a Senate subcommittee. By then, retailers had begun retesting their inventory and recalls of lead-laced toys became almost daily events."

The Consumer Product Safety Commission began to act on lead in children's toys in January, 2008. KID's Cowles observed that quicker action in this area "would have made safer products available sooner".

KID's mission was to save lives by enhancing transparency and accountability through safer product development, better education and stronger advocacy for children. KID focused on three primary areas: education, training, and advocacy. KID educated parents and caregivers in how to protect their children with a three-step program that includes: 1-Learning about recalls through checking with consumer agencies such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission and at KID's site, 2-Searching inside the home for dangerous products and 3-Staying alert to potential problems and making others aware of what has become known.

Secondly, KID actively participated in programs that promote training in this area for a variety of groups. "Safe from the Start" (SFTS) is a program that works with healthcare professionals, caregivers and parents to spread information about children's product safety. In 2009, KID launched The Debby Sayah Grandparent Outreach Project to target information towards grandparents.

Finally, KID advocated for increased awareness and proactive testing of children's products. The program "Teach Early Safety Testing" targets designers and engineers who create and develop children's products. In addition, "Test It Now" is a grassroots awareness campaign for ensuring that the public is aware of current dangerous practices, encouraging policymakers to produce change, and challenging the Consumer Product Safety Commission to sharpen its current operations.