Kids First Law Center

  • Childhood Success
  • Education

Who We Are

Kids First gives children a voice in divorce and custody conflicts by providing focused legal representation and services for kids. Kids First also provides professional joint parenting sessions, helping parents find common ground and resolve issues related to custody, parenting, and visitation. 

Kids First’s overall goals are to create stability for children of divorce, lessen the effect of family conflict on children, connect families to support systems and needed resources, and make children’s voices heard.

What We Do

Kids First provides focused legal representation for school-aged children in high-conflict custody and divorce situations. Kids First’s three attorneys together represent approximately 150 kids in high-conflict family law cases each year. A majority of Kids First families are struggling with domestic violence, substance abuse, and/or mental health issues. Kids need a trusted, neutral person they can confide in. Often, a Kids First attorney is the only professional working one-on-one with a child. A child’s attorney can help keep everyone’s focus on the child’s needs and concerns.

The Kids First Divorce Workshop is for kids ages 6-16 to help them understand and cope with their parents’ separation and divorce. Children are grouped by age and classes use artwork, games, discussion, videos and role-playing as age appropriate. The goals of the workshop are to: 1) provide youth with a safe and confidential place to discuss their feelings about divorce; 2) let children know they are not alone and the divorce is not their fault; 3) give kids practical skills to handle common divorce scenarios and adjust to family changes; and 4) clarify misconceptions and set age-appropriate expectations for the legal process.

Families can also benefit from professional joint parenting sessions which help parents find common ground and resolve issues related to custody, parenting, and visitation.  For families where contact between parents can be volatile, Kids First also serves as a safe, neutral site where parents can conduct exchanges for visitation times. 

Kids First is also piloting a project at McKinley Middle School in the Cedar Rapids Community School District with in-kind support from that school’s leadership and teaching staff. Kids First will offer restorative circles to build relationships with kids, foster community, and increase students’ social-emotional skills. When conflicts arise, those affected will be referred to Kids First’s facilitator. The facilitator will lead circles with affected parties, which may include students and teachers. This process will result in amicable agreements and reduced conflict. Restorative justice interrupts youth cycles of violence.

Details

Get Connected Icon (319) 365-5437
Get Connected Icon (319) 366-3308
Get Connected Icon Kandy Sands
Get Connected Icon Office Manager
http://kidsfirstiowa.org