Safe & Sound

Child abuse is a complex problem, an invisible epidemic that happens more than you can imagine. We must recognize child abuse is not somebody else's problem.

We see a future where childhoods are sacred and every child is safe. In 50 years, we will end child abuse in San Francisco and reduce its prevalence in surrounding communities.

Safe & Sound's 5-year Strategic Plan created a detailed blueprint for the agency to increase reach, improve services, and reach its strategic goals. Every child deserves a safe and healthy childhood. Our ultimate goal is to protect children from child abuse and neglect—in other words, to stop children from ever getting harmed. We implement a public health strategy to prevent abuse:

1) providing comprehensive, round-the-clock supportive services directly to children and their families, targeting families in crisis and the most vulnerable in our community;
2) educating the community at large—children, caregivers, child-serving professionals, and the public—about safety issues; and
3) creating and maintaining strategic partnerships across education, health care, law enforcement, social services, and the private sector, to advocate for systems improvement and increase to coordination to strengthen the safety net for children.

Safe & Sound focuses its impact on all children at-risk for abuse and neglect who live in San Francisco, with a greater emphasis on children newborn to age twelve. The rationale for a deeper focus on younger children is that current data shows that child abuse and neglect disproportionately impacts younger children. Fortunately, the prevention of child abuse and neglect can have far-reaching impact throughout a child's life. A focus on serving younger children and their families also draws on the deep experience and expertise that the Safe & Sound has developed in its many years of programming. Safe & Sound will continue to monitor this focus and will adapt to changes in demand or in Safe & Sound's expertise. Safe & Sound continues to remain committed to serving any child and family in crisis.

Safe & Sound recognizes that preventing child abuse and neglect requires a comprehensive and child-centric approach, focusing on children and those around them—families, communities, and the underlying fabric of child- and family-serving systems and organizations. We will work across these main areas to nurture children and strengthen families, empower and educate the community, and create strategic partnerships to improve the system of response that protects children at risk for abuse and neglect.

For more than 40 years, Safe & Sound has been a source of strength, support, and hope for children and families in our community. We lead child abuse prevention in San Francisco 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Each year, our Family Support Center provides a safe place for 600 kids; our TALK Line counsels nearly 1,000 families through their darkest moments; and our safety lessons teach more than 6,000 elementary kids how to protect themselves from physical and sexual abuse and dangerous situations.

Through our services, 93% of parents with the highest needs improved their emotional health, and 76% either remained stable or increased their economic stability to meet their families' basic needs. Our programs make a difference.

However, there is more work to be done to keep kids safe. Safe & Sound has the capacity, expertise, collaborative relationships, and vision needed to achieve our long-term vision of ending child abuse in San Francisco.

• Our data-driven service model will track our work with families and measure our impact on their lives. Rigorous screening tools have transformed how we measure outcomes and refine services. Through proven metrics and analysis, we can identify what works best; share that information with other organizations in a statistically sound, effective way; and elevate child abuse preventions efforts.
• When abuse is recognized, the healing process should begin immediately. Too often, that's not the case. From police officers to case workers, a long list of advocates need to hear the child's story. For the child, the interview process can be extremely traumatic. Until now, San Francisco did not have an effective solution for our most vulnerable children. Our Children's Advocacy Center is changing that. We will ensure that 300 children every year receive the support they need, and tell their story only once—in a child-friendly, safe, accessible, and welcoming space on Third Street.
• We already bring safety awareness lessons to 40% of the public elementary school classrooms in San Francisco. We're in schools every day educating children how to avoid abuse, and training teachers how to spot it; we're in police stations and hospitals working with first responders; and we're in community centers partnering with social workers and counselors to improve treatment services. We will expand this work to reach more community members in families. In 2014, we're launching a multi-year public awareness campaign about how to prevent, recognize, and end sexual abuse. Stopping child abuse takes an entire community. The first step is awareness.
• Since 1987, our historic former firehouse on Waller Street has been a warm, welcoming, hope-filled place for thousands of children and families. To better serve these parents and children, in 2013 we made important renovations—from fixing the roof to sound-proofing the counseling rooms—and we will continue to improve and maintain this important community resource.

Child abuse will not go away easily. Risk factors—including economic disparity and high cost of living—are perhaps more prevalent today than ever, and in our own city the impact is devastating. San Francisco has the highest rate of child abuse in the Bay Area. Every year, 6,000 cases of suspected child abuse are reported, and 10,000 children witness or are victims of violence in their homes and neighborhoods. Thousands more children are at risk.

Changing this will take an entire community. Each of us has an important role to play in ending child abuse. With community support, Safe & Sound will lead the way.

With your support, we will extend our reach, introduce urgently needed services to the city, and improve abuse prevention models. Most importantly, we will transform the lives of thousands of children and families in our community.

Every $1 invested in prevention yields $19 in savings from the long-term societal cost of abuse. Please join us.