Our Story
K.A.C.E.N.S. C.A.U.S.E. started because of one very special little boy. Take a moment to learn more about him, our story, and what we are doing to make an impact on child drownings.
My amazing, wild, sweet and perfect little boy Kacen was such a fun and energetic 2-year-old. I used to tell him he was too smart for his own good and that would get him in trouble one day. I never dreamed those silly words would turn into a nightmare that would come so quickly and so tragically. On the day before his third birthday, Kacen opened a sliding-glass door, bypassed a weak and defective pool fence that surrounded the pool, and fatally drowned. His twin sister witnessed her brother's tragic final moments of life. She tried to save him by telling an adult that Kacen was in the pool, but it was too late. Emergency responders tried all possible life-saving measures, but it just wasn't enough.
The pain of losing a child is unbearable. It is deep, it is raw and it is something not a soul can understand unless you have also lost a child, but I have decided to take this unrelenting pain and use it toward something positive. That's why I've created K.A.C.E.N.S. C.A.U.S.E., which stands for: Keeping Adults and Children Educated Nationwide: Creating Awareness on Unsafe Swimming Environments. This non-profit foundation will educate others, help those in need to obtain safety devices and swimming lessons, and lead changes in pool safety laws. K.A.C.E.N.S. C.A.U.S.E. is 501(c)(3) organization, recognized by the State of Florida.
Did you know that drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death for children ages 1-4 in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)? Drowning is the third leading cause worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In fact, the state of Florida has an exceptionally high risk of child drownings, because nearly every home has a pool. For those who do survive a drowning, about half end up with severe brain damage, resulting in a severely diminished quality of life. According to the CDC, most child drownings happen in familiar places (65% were their home pools, while about 30% were in pools owned by friends or relatives, like in my son's case.) More than half of the child drowning victims in 2017 had been out of sight of an adult for only 5 minutes or less. Almost half were last seen inside the home and a quarter were seen in the yard, porch or patio. In all, 69% of the children involved in a drowning incident were not expected to be near or in the pool, yet that is where they were found. Drowning is a silent death, not like the movies with yelling and thrashing about. It is quick, and it is silent. There is no actual splashing that would alert someone to a child (or anyone) in distress. This is the information we need to get out to the public.
Most people think it would never happen to them, but it can happen to anybody. This is why I'm committed to updating Florida laws to include stricter pool safety measures. These are our children, the next generation, our future. We must protect them. We must educate the adults of today on the current laws, guidelines and awareness so that we can save the children, the adults of tomorrow. Kacen could have been anything he wanted. He could have been a firefighter, a police officer, a truck driver, construction worker, a CEO, an inventor, an entrepreneur, even the President, But he will never get the chance to follow the life path he was meant for. It was stolen from him too soon, and I want to prevent that from happening to any other child.
The current Florida laws regarding pool safety are outdated and inadequate. In 2000, Former Governor Jeb Bush signed the Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act, in honor of Preston de Ibern of Palm Harbor, who had a drowning incident when he was 5 years old. He survived but had severe brain damage with the cognitive ability of a 6-month-old child. Unfortunately, he has since passed away. The act was a step in the right direction for pool safety, but it greatly falls short of protecting our children. Preston's mother was quoted saying, "If there had been a fence, it would have caught him. If there had been a latch, he would have never gotten out to begin with. He was highly intelligent. He wanted to own his own construction company when he grew up."
For Kacen, the fence around our friend's pool did not catch him. One safety measure can fail, which is why the AAP, as well as every public health advocate in the country, advise that there be at least two layers of protection for every pool. With a lot of determination and persistence, a new bill has been introduced to supplement the one currently in place, called Kacen's Cause Act (SB 244 and HB 229). Currently, the Florida law requires only ONE pool safety measure to be in place on NEWLY built homes and pools, built after 2001. However, more than 90% of Florida’s home swimming pools were built before the Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act took effect. This means that more than 90% of the pools in Florida have the ability to NOT meet the law requirements, and that does not break the law in any way. The safety feature options are as follows:
Kacen's Cause Act will require all homes with pools to have (at least) two of the above safety measures in place. Additionally, in order to implement this law in homes built before 2001, it will be required for both safety features to be present during a transfer or sale of a property that has a pool. Help us save our children's lives. Help us pass Kacen's Cause Act and assist those who are in need. Together we can make a difference!
Sincerely,
Brittany Howard
Kacen's Mommy & Founder of K.A.C.E.N.S. C.A.U.S.E.
The pain of losing a child is unbearable. It is deep, it is raw and it is something not a soul can understand unless you have also lost a child, but I have decided to take this unrelenting pain and use it toward something positive. That's why I've created K.A.C.E.N.S. C.A.U.S.E., which stands for: Keeping Adults and Children Educated Nationwide: Creating Awareness on Unsafe Swimming Environments. This non-profit foundation will educate others, help those in need to obtain safety devices and swimming lessons, and lead changes in pool safety laws. K.A.C.E.N.S. C.A.U.S.E. is 501(c)(3) organization, recognized by the State of Florida.
Did you know that drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death for children ages 1-4 in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)? Drowning is the third leading cause worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In fact, the state of Florida has an exceptionally high risk of child drownings, because nearly every home has a pool. For those who do survive a drowning, about half end up with severe brain damage, resulting in a severely diminished quality of life. According to the CDC, most child drownings happen in familiar places (65% were their home pools, while about 30% were in pools owned by friends or relatives, like in my son's case.) More than half of the child drowning victims in 2017 had been out of sight of an adult for only 5 minutes or less. Almost half were last seen inside the home and a quarter were seen in the yard, porch or patio. In all, 69% of the children involved in a drowning incident were not expected to be near or in the pool, yet that is where they were found. Drowning is a silent death, not like the movies with yelling and thrashing about. It is quick, and it is silent. There is no actual splashing that would alert someone to a child (or anyone) in distress. This is the information we need to get out to the public.
Most people think it would never happen to them, but it can happen to anybody. This is why I'm committed to updating Florida laws to include stricter pool safety measures. These are our children, the next generation, our future. We must protect them. We must educate the adults of today on the current laws, guidelines and awareness so that we can save the children, the adults of tomorrow. Kacen could have been anything he wanted. He could have been a firefighter, a police officer, a truck driver, construction worker, a CEO, an inventor, an entrepreneur, even the President, But he will never get the chance to follow the life path he was meant for. It was stolen from him too soon, and I want to prevent that from happening to any other child.
The current Florida laws regarding pool safety are outdated and inadequate. In 2000, Former Governor Jeb Bush signed the Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act, in honor of Preston de Ibern of Palm Harbor, who had a drowning incident when he was 5 years old. He survived but had severe brain damage with the cognitive ability of a 6-month-old child. Unfortunately, he has since passed away. The act was a step in the right direction for pool safety, but it greatly falls short of protecting our children. Preston's mother was quoted saying, "If there had been a fence, it would have caught him. If there had been a latch, he would have never gotten out to begin with. He was highly intelligent. He wanted to own his own construction company when he grew up."
For Kacen, the fence around our friend's pool did not catch him. One safety measure can fail, which is why the AAP, as well as every public health advocate in the country, advise that there be at least two layers of protection for every pool. With a lot of determination and persistence, a new bill has been introduced to supplement the one currently in place, called Kacen's Cause Act (SB 244 and HB 229). Currently, the Florida law requires only ONE pool safety measure to be in place on NEWLY built homes and pools, built after 2001. However, more than 90% of Florida’s home swimming pools were built before the Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act took effect. This means that more than 90% of the pools in Florida have the ability to NOT meet the law requirements, and that does not break the law in any way. The safety feature options are as follows:
- A 4-foot mesh fence with an outward swinging, self-closing, self-latching gate, and the fence must be separate from any other fence, wall or other enclosure surrounding the yard unless that enclosure is being used as part of the barrier. (The well-meaning DIY pool fence around the pool Kacen drowned in did not have this gate, just the mesh fence, and the owners were never even informed by the fence company that this was a law, or something that was even an option.)
- All doors and windows with direct access to the pool must be equipped with an exit alarm that reaches a required decibel.
- All doors that provide access directly to the pool must have a self-closing, self-latching device with a release mechanism of a certain height.
- A swimming pool alarm that sounds an alarm of a certain decibel upon detection of an accidental or unauthorized entrance into the water.
Kacen's Cause Act will require all homes with pools to have (at least) two of the above safety measures in place. Additionally, in order to implement this law in homes built before 2001, it will be required for both safety features to be present during a transfer or sale of a property that has a pool. Help us save our children's lives. Help us pass Kacen's Cause Act and assist those who are in need. Together we can make a difference!
Sincerely,
Brittany Howard
Kacen's Mommy & Founder of K.A.C.E.N.S. C.A.U.S.E.
K.A.C.E.N.S. C.A.U.S.E. is 501(c)(3) organization, recognized by the State of Florida (EIN# 83-1682692).