Tulsa Nonprofit Raises Awareness About Program Offering Youth A Safe Place To Go In Crisis

It is National Safe Place Week, designed to focus attention on a program that helps youth in crisis.

Safe Place is a national program that was first brought to Tulsa in 1991 by the owners of QuikTrip. Youth Services of Tulsa became the host agency and is the first to be called when a child walks through the doors of any designated "Safe Place."

"One of the things that is unique about our Safe Place program is we are attached to Youth Services of Tulsa, so we can easily refer them to family counseling, individual counseling, substance abuse counseling if a young person gets in trouble with the law for the first time we have the First Offenders program that can help them work through those charges and potentially get them dropped," said Tulsa area Safe Place Coordinator, Natalie Brown.

The program provides immediate safety and support for those 12 to 17 years old who may be running away from an abusive situation, got kicked out of their home, are experiencing homelessness or a family conflict. Designated Safe Place sites in Tulsa include QuikTrip, MedWise Urgent Care, the Tulsa City-County Library, Tulsa Glass Blowing School, Fire Stations, EMSA vehicles and Tulsa Transit buses.

"There are predators everywhere, so whether it is drugs, alcohol, human trafficking, or just taking advantage of a young person, there are a lot of dangers out there," Brown added. "That is one of the things that we discuss during my Safe Place presentation in schools is different types of abuse, what that can look like, and the dangers if a young person chooses to run away and has nowhere else to go but the streets."

Teens can also get help by texting the word "safe" and their current address, city, and state to 4HELP (44357). They will get a response providing the closest Safe Place location. It then allows teens the opportunity to chat with a live person.

For more information about the program or to volunteer, Click Here. https://www.nationalsafeplace.org/.