This webinar designed for Safe Place Coordinators and CASA personnel. It will provide an introduction and brief overview of the Safe Place and CASA program, discuss the goals of the partnership between the two national organizations and provide an overview of the specific partnership opportunities and benefits at the local level.

1. National CASA and National
Safe Place
PARTNERING TO ENHANCE
YOUTH SERVICES
SALLY WILSON ERNY, NCASA, CHIEF
PROGRAM OFFICER
LAURIE JACKSON, NSP, EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR

2. Mission Statements
National CASA National Safe Place
 Together with its state and local  Provides access to immediate
members, is to support and help and supportive resources
promote court-appointed for all young people in crisis
volunteer advocacy so that through a network of sites
every abused or neglected child sustained by qualified agencies,
can be safe, establish trained volunteers and
permanence and have the businesses.
opportunity to thrive.

3. Natural Partnership Opportunities
There are 90 communities across the country that
have both a CASA and Safe Place program

4. How Safe Place Works
 Outreach and Prevention
 Community Accessibility through partnerships
 Trained Response
 Access to Services

5. Safe Place Impact on Communities
 Youth and their families - More than 250,000 youth have
called or gone to a Safe Place for help
 Schools– Each year millions of youth learn about how to get
help through Safe Place
 Law Enforcement – Has connected more than 10,000
youth to shelters via Safe Place
 Youth service agencies – Safe Place provides connections
with new partners
 Businesses and civic partners – Provides meaningful
opportunities to engage in the community

6. Facts & Stats
 Safe Place locations available 16,977
 Txt 4 HELP (Oct ’09 – June ’10) 4,058
 Safe Place is available in 40 states
 140 Safe Place programs are in place for 1,551
communities

7. Txt 4 Help
24-hour text-for-support service
for youth in crisis
“It’s hard to find a kid today who isn’t constantly
keeping in touch with their friends and family
through text messages. The Txt 4 Help initiative is
an innovative project that harnesses the
popularity and power of texting to give kids
instant access to assistance when they need it
most”
Congressman John Yarmuth (KY).

8. Reasons why youth went to a Safe Place
Family Problems
Family Problems 44%
Runaway
Runaway 17%
Homeless
Homeless 12%
Abuse
Abuse 7%
Locked Out 3% Locked Out
School Issues 3% School Issues
Immediate Safety 2% Immediate Safety
Substance Abuse 2%
Substance Abuse
Mental Health Issues 2%
Mental Health Issues
Neglect, Suicidal or Other 7%
Neglect, Suicidal or
Other

9. Ages of youth seeking help
25%
10 and under 2%
11 2% 20%
12 5%
15%
13 9%
14 15%
10%
15 20%
16 20% 5%
17 19%
18 and older 8% 0%
15
16
17
13
<18
11
14
>10
12
Ages

10. NSP Services
 Consultation and  National Safe Place Week
Technical Support Advocacy Guidelines and
 Database Availability and Support
Support  Connection to National
 Online Training Corporate Partners
Opportunities  Txt 4 HELP National
 Outreach Materials for Texting Project
Youth  Evidence based
Programming and
Evaluation

11. How CASA Works
Role of CASA/GAL
CASA Program
volunteers
 Recruit and screen  Fact finder
volunteers
 Provide high quality  Facilitator
training and
supervision
 Monitor
 Support volunteers in
their efforts on behalf
of children  Advocate

12. CASA Network
 46 State Offices and 904 local programs
 49 States, District of Columbia and U.S. Virgin
Islands
 71,000 Volunteers in 2009
 Serving 237,095 abused and neglected children

13. Importance of CASA Volunteers
 Low CASA caseloads mean the courts can make
better decisions for children.
 Complex cases receive more attention so they can
move forward in a timely way.

14. CASA as Evidence-Based Practice
 Research shows that CASA advocacy works:
 Participant satisfaction
 Meeting the need
 Better decision-making and increased services for youth.
 Low recidivism rates.

15. Issues of Older Youth in Foster Care
 Educational Disadvantages
 Homelessness
 Incarceration
 Mental Health Issues

16. Fostering Future Initiatives
 Customized training curriculum
 Advocacy
 Youth directed planning
 Realizing “possible selves”

17. National CASA Services
 Consultation and support
 Training and annual conference
 Outreach and communications
 Data collection and evaluation
 Grants
 Quality Assurance

18. Partnership Goals
 Advocate for the safety and well being of youth
 Share ideas and resources available to assist youth in
crisis
 Offer support to each other’s organizations

19. Partnership Opportunities
 Provide information to CASA/GAL program staff and
volunteers about Safe Place as a resource for youth.
 Provide Safe Place coordinators with information about
CASA/GAL program.
 Provide CASA/GAL program staff with information cards
and resource materials for distribution to CASA youth.

20. Partnership Opportunities
 Share information about volunteer opportunities
 Shared training opportunities and resources (ex – NSP
online webinars)
 Increase awareness of the services of CASA and NSP
 Use national CASA and NSP conference as opportunities to
conduct workshops on each other’s programs

21. Local Examples
 What are ways in which you have already partnered
in your local communities?

22. Wrap-Up
 Questions?
 Your Facilitators:
 Sally Wilson Erny, NCASA , Chief Program Officer
sallye@nationalcasa.org
 Laurie Jackson, NSP, Executive Director
ljackson@nationalsafeplace.org