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Children of the Street (COTS) is a non-profit (501c3) organization formed to end the suffering of innocent children in El Salvador.

In addition to food, shelter, clothing and crisis care, COTS provides a variety of services to Salvadoran children, including health care, education, vocational preparation, drug abuse treatment and prevention programs, recreation, mother/child programs, transitional living programs and street outreach.

According to the Salvadoran Institute for the Protection of Minors, more than 28% of Salvadoran street children reported being abused by authorities with 51% of the injuries reported being beatings, and 20% cuts. Even with these injuries and threats, 78% of these children reported feeling safer on the streets than in their own homes.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 80% of the Salvadoran children suffer from cruelty.

More than 90% of the girls on the streets belong to gangs, which tend to prostitute them for money. About 44% of the estimated 2,300 prostitutes in three major red light districts of San Salvador are between the ages of 13 and 18.

The children who spend their lives in the streets have lost their trust of family and community.

Approximately 84% of these children would like to have the opportunity to change their street-bound situation.

In order to meet the immediate needs of these "children of the street", COTS was formed to give these children hope and opportunity. COTS was named for those it seeks to serve.