Safe Start
Edgewood Safe Start helps kinship families with children under the age of 8 who have been exposed to violence.
Nationally, the goal of the Safe Start initiative is to increase the understanding of and promote community investment in preventing and reducing the impact of violence on children. New scientific research is uncovering the psychological impact of violence on the developing human brain and the long-term consequences of this exposure.
After exposure to violence, young children may exhibit behaviors, symptoms, and emotional difficulties relating to their trauma. This may affect the relationship between the child and their caregivers. Building these relationships and improving permanency is the focus of Edgewood Safe Start. location
San Mateo County
Families are met wherever is most convenient for them. This can include home-visits, meetings at Edgewood locations throughout the county, or another setting in the family's community. Who It Helps
Edgewood Safe Start is now accepting new families. Call for more information: 415.375.7603
Edgewood Safe Start esta aceptando a nuevas familias. Para informacion: 415.375.7603
Edgewood's Safe Start program serves Kinship families living in San Mateo with children under the age of 8 who have been exposed to violence. Kinship families are composed of children who are being raised by relative caregivers - grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and cousins.
amilies are often initially engaged for assistance in attaining guardianship. Safe Start is a voluntary program and families are able to discontinue services at any time.
Services
- Edgewood Safe Start provides intensive child-caregiver psychotherapy, assessment, and supportive services.
- Edgewood Safe Start clinicians work with the whole family, providing specialized weekly therapy using the Child-Parent Psychotherapy model.
- Services are aimed at promoting community investment in evidence-based strategies that reduce the impact of children's exposure to violence.
- Safe Start participants benefit from all Edgewood Kinship services: Case Management; Community Nursing; Support Groups; Trainings and Workshops for Caregivers; Family and Youth Recreational Activities; and Tutoring and Educational Advocacy.
- Services are offered in English and Spanish.
partners and funders
Resources
key facts
Children exposed to violence and maltreatment suffer from increased depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress, anger, alcohol and drug abuse, and lower academic achievement. New scientific research is uncovering the physiological impact of violence on the developing human brain and the long-term consequences of this exposure.
- By the time a child reaches the age of 18, the probability that he or she will have experienced
family or community violence, as either a victim or a witness, is one in four. Bruce Perry, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Child Psychiatry, Child Trauma Academy, August 1999
- Childhood abuse and neglect increase the odds of arrest as a juvenile by 59 percent, arrest as an adult by 28 percent, and arrest for a violent crime by 30 percent. National Institute of Justice Research Brief, February 2001
- In 2003, California reported that 493,091 children were referred for investigation of child abuse and neglect. State of California, Department of Social Services, January 2005
- California has more young people incarcerated than any other state in the country. National
Center for Juvenile Justice, 2001.
- Incarceration costs California $71,700 per year, per child. California Youth Authority, FY 2004/05
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