Edgewood Expands Safe Start to Kinship Families in San Mateo County

August 15, 2007

Edgewood Center for Children and Families' Safe Start program in San Mateo County was recently awarded an additional $420,000 by the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The Safe Start program is a nationwide initiative that helps young children who have been exposed to violence. Edgewood's two-year-old Safe Start uniquely focuses on the needs of children in kinship families.

Kinship families are composed of children who are being raised by relative caregivers - grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, cousins, and godparents. Part of Edgewood's Kinship Support Network, Edgewood Safe Start serves Kinship families with children ages 0-7 who have been exposed to violence. Edgewood's Safe Start model has been particularly successful in improving permanency for children in Kinship families. Participating families benefit from all of Edgewood's Kinship services: case management; community nursing; support groups; trainings and workshops for caregivers; family and youth recreational activities; and tutoring and educational advocacy.

"Children living in kinship families may have been exposed to violence," said Natalia Estassi, Edgewood Safe Start Program Manager. "Exposure to violence can impact a child's functioning, making it difficult for them to feel secure and build healthy relationships. We are honored to bring Safe Start to a new population of kinship families and hope to share what we learn with other agencies across the country."

After exposure to violence, young children often exhibit behaviors, symptoms, and emotional difficulties related to their trauma, which affects the relationship between the child and their caregivers. Building these relationships and improving permanency is the focus of Edgewood Safe Start.

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