Spotlight on: Safe Place

What is Safe Place?

• Safe Place is a national youth outreach and prevention program for young people in need of immediate help and safety. As a community-based program, Safe Place designates businesses and organizations as Safe Place sites, making help readily available to youth in communities across the country.

How it works:

• When youth see the Safe Place sign on a building they know this is somewhere they can ask for help. When in need, they should enter the building and ask for help. They will be connected with a professional who can walk them through the crisis situation with the goal of having the youth return to home and getting families connected with support and resources in the community.

Ways to get HELP:

• Call the Safe Place agency on-call at (765) 269-6454
• Walk into a Safe Place site
• Call the National Runaway Safeline at 1-800-RUNAWAY or 1-800-786-2929
• TXT 4 HELP is a nationwide service where they can get immediate help and safety. Text the word SAFE, along with your current location, (address-city-state), to the number 69866.

When and why it started:

• Project Safe Place was started in 1983 as the outreach program for local Runaway and Homeless Youth agency in response to many troubled youth needing help. It was first started in Louisville, KY and has spread throughout the country. Safe Place sites currently span across 41 states. By the end of this year, there are will be 18 agencies in charge of Safe Place throughout Indiana covering 30 of the 92 counties. There are currently 945 stationary sites and 678 mobile sites in Indiana alone. Safe Place launched in Tippecanoe County in October 2015 in response to the increasing number of youth being arrested for running away from home and the drastic increase of families becoming involved with the child welfare system due to abuse and neglect. Safe Place provides an opportunity for youth and families to be connected with local resources and services before they become involved with Juvenile Probation or the Department of Child Services.

Safe Place Sites in Tippecanoe County:

• Tippecanoe Township Volunteer Fire Department
• Lafayette Fire Department (all stations)
• West Lafayette Fire Department (all stations)
• Purdue University Fire Department (all stations)
• Hanna Community Center
• Bauer Family Resources
• Sacred Grounds
• Salvation Army
• Buck Creek Pizza (Dayton Station)
• McAllister Recreation Center
• Mental Health America
• Pride Lafayette, Inc.
• West Lafayette Public Library