Drop-In Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, 10 am – 4 pm
SafeStart is a collaborative of four Family Resource Centers in the city of San Francisco. SafeStart’s mission is to reduce the impact and incidence of childhood violence exposure. SafeStart provides direct services to families with at least one child aged 6 or under who has directly or indirectly experienced domestic and/or community violence. Child Advocates are distributed throughout the city–in its four locations–and offer neighborhood-based case management, resources, referrals, home visiting, system navigation, advocacy, and caregiver and child development support. Parenting classes and child-parent skill building groups are offered at all four sites multiple times per year in Spanish, English and Cantonese.
Services Provided
| Classification | Service | Description | How to Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Connections | Workshops and classes | SafeStart offers presentations to parents and local providers (within public health, criminal justice, social service and education arenas) on the impacts of childhood violence exposure including tools for caregivers and professionals to use while approaching child development, attachment and health in a trauma-informed way. | By registration |
| Parenting Advice and Skill Building | Toddlers/preschoolers playgroup | Superheroes is a parent-child interactive group for parents together with their 5-6 year old children.
This 10-week group focuses on the social-emotional competency of children, aimed to promote child autonomy, positive self-regulation skills, empathy, emotional identification and coping tools. Included topics are: emotional identification, positive communication, listening skills, emotional regulation, helping others (empathy), building health self-esteem and working with others (teamwork). |
By registration |
| Parenting Advice and Skill Building | Parent education | Adults and Children Together (ACT) is a 9-week parent psychoeducation group that focuses on child development, the impacts of violence on children, conflict resolution, anger management and positive discipline.
Topics covered include: understanding children’s behavior, understanding parental and childhood anger, managing media violence and diverse parenting approaches. |
By registration |
| Parenting Advice and Skill Building | Support groups | Safety, Emotions, Loss and Future (SELF) is an 8-week parent/peer support group that intends to decrease parent anxiety, stress and depression, identify past trauma, discuss past and present safety concerns and highlight parental resilience.
This is a flexible curriculum based on parent needs within each unique group. Topics addressed include: trust, defining safety and boundaries, consent, emotional identification, addiction and stress management. |
Drop-in or by registration |
| Parenting Advice and Skill Building | Developmental screening | ASQ-SE is completed with families at intake and assessment for Superheroes Group and as needed or requested by caregivers concerned about their child’s developmental health. | By registration |
| Formal Supports | Family advocacy/case management | SafeStart Child Advocates provide neighborhood-based case management, resources, referrals, home visiting, system navigation, advocacy, and caregiver and child development support. | By registration |
| Other Leveraged Services | Legal consulting | SafeStart offers individuals legal advice through its legal consultants. | By appointment |