Services for Children

For nearly thirty years, Safe Horizon has been creating compassionate, effective and inventive services to help children, teens and young adults address issues of violence and abuse. Violence impacts young people of all ages and backgrounds. Safe Horizon reaches out to young people where they are - in the schools, on the streets, and in their communities.

Child Advocacy Centers

When an abused child is brought to a Child Advocacy Center, he or she enters an environment that is comforting and safe. A multidisciplinary team of police, prosecutors, pediatricians and child protective workers provide the child with immediate and compassionate care, all under one roof. At Safe Horizon Child Advocacy Centers, we aim to have a child tell his or her story of abuse to one person, decreasing the number of times the child is interviewed and thereby minimizing trauma.

Safe Harbor

Safe Harbor is Safe Horizon's comprehensive violence prevention/victim assistance program offered in middle and high schools throughout New York City. The Safe Harbor model assists youth by creating a designated safe space where students can receive counseling, learn non-violent life skills, develop school-wide strategies for reducing violence and help promote a supportive environment in their schools.

Our Safe Harbor programs provide immediate, practical assistance to youth in need, while providing a stable, non-judgmental setting to address and explore issues of violence. The programs aim to address the underlying causes of violence and the impact of victimization. With a focus on leadership, empowerment, and the development of social, emotional and interpersonal skills, the programs offer students concrete alternatives to violence.

Streetwork

Many youth living on the street have been victims of child abuse, sexual abuse, neglect or other violent crimes. They have often run away or been thrown out of their homes or foster care. Their lives on the street may involve substance use, crime, panhandling and survival sex. Street-involved youth are disproportionately vulnerable to HIV infection, Hepatitis C, and malnutrition, and are at high risk for a host of other health concerns.

Safe Horizon's Streetwork Project is committed to reaching out to the homeless and disenfranchised children, teens and young adults up to age 24 in New York City. We provide a range of free counseling, legal, medical and psychiatric services - from hot meals to showers to group therapy to emergency and crisis housing - all in a safe, non-judgmental setting. Streetwork offers homeless youth a respite from hunger, cold, loneliness and fear and the opportunity to reclaim a sense of dignity and self-worth.

Counseling Center

Safe Horizon's Counseling Center is the only State-licensed mental health clinic in New York City that specializes in the trauma-focused treatment of victims of crime and abuse. Brooklyn-based, it currently provides an average of 4,500 trauma-focused treatment sessions each year to child and adult survivors of physical abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence and other crimes. Sixty-five percent of the Center's current clients are children, and many of its programs are carefully tailored to the special needs of this extremely fragile population. The Center provides to these and all of its clients the support and treatment that they need to rebuild their lives and heal.

The Counseling Center has received local, state and national recognition for its use of innovative, evidence-based treatment methods. In December 2006, the New York State Office of Mental Health awarded the Center a highly distinguished Tier 1 rating. Since then, Safe Horizon has initiated plans to expand the Center's operations into satellite sites throughout the city, beginning in Staten Island in the summer of 2008 with Manhattan to follow in spring 2009.

Family and Criminal Court Children's Centers

A day in court can be stressful and frightening for children involved in a court case. Safe Horizon operates ten centers in the five boroughs of New York, each one providing free, supportive, educational childcare for child victims and witnesses who must appear in court. The Children's Centers also provide care for children of adult victims or witnesses, giving them a safe and comfortable environment where they are sheltered from the often sensitive matters that are discussed openly in the courtroom, such as abuse and domestic violence.

Shelters

Safe Horizon is one of largest providers of domestic violence shelters in the nation, offering a refuge to thousands of women - and their children - who flee violent homes in New York City each year. Safe Horizon operates both emergency shelters for crisis situations and transitional housing where women move after several months to plan for a future free from violence. The shelters offer comprehensive services including counseling, housing assistance, life skills and parenting courses and childcare. Referrals for legal, medical and other needed assistance are available, as are weekly support groups (offered in English and Spanish), case management services, activities for children, and workshops on parenting, wellness and financial health.