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National Safe Place (doing business as National Safe Place Network) is a non-profit organization based out of
*
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
. It originated in 1983 from an initiative known as "Project Safe Place", established by a short-term residential and counseling center for youth 12 to 17. The organization is intended to provide access to immediate help and support for children and adolescents who are "at risk" or in crisis situations.That includes, for example, children who are runaways or those experiencing homelessness. The purpose is to both defuse a potential crisis situation as well as provide immediate counsel and support so the child in crisis may be directed to an appropriate shelter or accredited care facility.
Businesses and community buildings such as fire stations and libraries are designated as "Safe Place" sites. Any youth in crisis can walk into one of the nearly 20,000 Safe Places across the country and ask an employee for help. These locations display the yellow, diamond-shaped Safe Place sign on their location. Inside, employees are trained and prepared to assist any young person asking for help. Youth who go to a Safe Place location are quickly connected to the nearby youth shelter. The shelter then provides the counseling and support necessary to reunify family members and develop a plan to address the issues presented by the youth and family.
In October 2009, National Safe Place launched the TXT 4 HELP initiative, which provides youth immediate access to help and resources through texting. Youth can text the word "safe" and their current location (address/city/state) to 4HELP (44357) and receive an immediate text response with the location of the closest Safe Place site or youth shelter and the youth shelter phone number. If a site or shelter is not within a 50-mile range, the youth receives the number to the National Runaway Safeline (1-800-RUNAWAY). In 2012, National Safe Place added the option for live, interactive texting with a trained mental health professional. With this addition, youth can immediately connect with Master's-level mental health professionals by text.
In 2013, National Safe Place merged with the Youth & Family Services Network (YFSN) to create the National Safe Place Network. NSPN provides training and technical assistance to licensed Safe Place agencies and NSPN member organizations across the country. More information about NSPN is available at www.nspnetwork.org.
The National Safe Place Network also operates the Runaway and Homeless Youth Training and Technical Assistance Center (RHYTTAC), a national training resource for FYSB-funded Runaway and Homeless Youth grantees, as well as several other federally funded projects focused on human trafficking and other issues critical to youth service providers.
See also
* Block Parent Program
The Block Parent Program ''( French: Le Programme Parents-Secours)'' is a large, volunteer-based, child safety and crime prevention program operating across Canada. Participants in the program (''Block Parents'') place signs on their homes indica ...
(Canada)
*Safety House Program
The Safety House Program was a national Australian community based and funded program designed for the safety of children while in transit to and from school. Houses and businesses were selected as safe places for children to seek shelter and safe ...
(Australia)
The first Safe Place case was in 1983 in Louisville Ky. At firehouse at 6th and Hill St
Facilitated by then Sergeant Matthew L Kaelin. Fire Co. Truck 3
References
External links
*{{Official website, http://www.nationalsafeplace.org Child safety Children's rights organizations in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Louisville, Kentucky Safety organizations