National Safe Place Week celebrates success of youth program in King County
Published 5:58 pm Monday, March 18, 2013
King County Safe Place, a network of youth service agencies and community sites, is celebrating its success during National Safe Place Week through Saturday.
King County Safe Place is part of a national network of more than 20,000 partnering businesses and community locations that display the yellow diamond Safe Place sign. As youth enter the designated Safe Places and ask for help, trained staff members connect them to the appropriate youth shelter for assistance.
Safe Place was launched in King County in August 2011 as a collaboration of three agencies:
• Auburn Youth Resources in south King County
• Friends of Youth in north and east King County
• YouthCare in Seattle
Since then, more than 90 young people have accessed services through Safe Place partners and agencies. Just since October, trained staff from the three youth services agencies have responded to 28 individual requests for help through the Safe Place program. Nearly half of the youth went to emergency shelters, and others were reunited with families or were referred to facilities such as hospitals. The 28 youth represented an equal number of girls and boys, and their average age was 15.
As awareness of the program and the number of Safe Place sites have grown, requests for help are increasing, said Friends of Youth CEO Terry Pottmeyer.
“It is encouraging that young people in crisis are increasingly turning to service agencies for help, instead of trying to survive alone on the streets where they are vulnerable to predators,” Pottmeyer said. “The Safe Place collaboration has proven remarkably successful at finding alternatives for youth with few options, and the King County program now is one of the largest Safe Place networks in the country.”
The three youth service agencies will participate in outreach activities during National Safe Place Week, such as providing information tables at several Metro Transit locations. In addition, the partnership launches a new social media effort today with a special Facebook page at www.facebook.com/KingCountySafePlace featuring daily news updates, photos and client stories of success during the week.
National Safe Place Week serves to increase awareness about the importance of youth safety and the dangers young people face when they feel they have nowhere to go or are in crisis situations. It also highlights the Safe Place program, which brings together businesses and volunteers to provide help and safety for youth facing abuse, neglect, bullying or serious family problems. Nationally, the Safe Place program has helped more than 285,000 youth since its inception in 1983 and currently serves more than 1,500 communities across the country. It is managed by 140 youth agencies in 41 states and the District of Columbia.
