What Is Safe Place?

Project Safe Place was created in 1983 and is a community outreach, prevention and awareness program designed to help youth in crisis situations. The project is sustained by a network of Safe Place sites, such as businesses, community buildings and city buses that display the distinctive yellow and black Safe Place sign in communities throughout the United States. ACH Child and Family Services is the Tarrant County administrator of the National Safe Place Project.

Locally, ACH maintains and services over 380 Safe Place sites. In addition to maintaining these local sites, Lois Loeffler, Safe Place Coordinator, educates youth in the community about the Safe Place Project through school presentations, community events and youth-centered marketing.

“I'm glad I learned about Safe Place at school today. I know where I can go now when I need help.” - 7th grader at Meacham Middle School

Any youth can enter a location displaying the Safe Place sign and request help. An employee at the Safe Place site will provide the youth with a safe place to wait while ACH is contacted. ACH then dispatches a counselor or trained staff member to the Safe Place location to offer immediate assistance to the youth. In many cases, this means transportation to the ACH Emergency Youth Shelter where youth are given a safe place to stay, while staff conduct a full assessment and begin working with the youth on a long-term solution.

For more information about ACH Child and Family Services, please visit www.achservices.org.

For more information on the national Safe Place Project, please visit www.safeplaceservices.org.

For more information on the local initiative, contact Lois Loeffler, Safe Place Coordinator, at 817.886.7158 or lloeffler@achservices.org.