Safe Child

Every single kid deserves to feel safe.

The Safe Child project is an effort to stop violence against children. We are working to do this by

Articulating the Rights of the Child, and empowering children with that knowledge.
Bringing security training into mainstream, daily parenting with educational programs for parents and certifying programs for children 3-18.
Educating legislators as to the true threat that children face and what research shows to be most effective in neutralizing those threats.
Going where the need is greatest: initially our efforts will focus on children within foster programs. At any given time, there are approximately 11,000 children in Washington's Foster Program.
They are all children of Washington, and they all deserve to feel safe.

We're approaching this with a few methods:

An advisory committee made up of experts in social work, law enforcement, internet security, physical security, children's services, victim's advocacy, foster care, and curricula development.
A series of Town Hall meetings on child safety and security, bringing together educators, elected officials, and law enforcement to talk about local safety issues and listen to the concerns of the community.
Legislative proposals - Read our Projects page for more information.

Educate, Empower, End the Cycle

In observance of National Missing Children's Day

On May 25, 1983, the first National Missing Children's Day was observed on the anniversary of the day Etan Patz disappeared while walking to school in New York. In May of 2007, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children [NCMEC] introduced the Take 25 campaign to educate parents and care-givers about preventative safety for children and communities. Safe Child Week was proclaimed by Governor Gregoire in May of 2008.

If you look at the list of organizations below, you'll see a portion of the organizations that have signed on to the effort toward safer kids and communities. These organizations committed to distributing Take 25 materials, providing workshops, and considering how they may best help their communities become safer places.

Washington is Stepping Up

The Attorney General, the PTA, Safe Streets - these are some of Washington State's powerhouses for creating change on behalf of kids. We're incredibly pleased and encouraged that they participated in our first Safe Child Week, and we look forward to working with them in the coming year on the rest of the Safe Child Project.

Special thanks to PEACE of Mind for their efforts.

Participants in Safe Child Week:
Take 25
Washington Attorney General's Office
Washington PTA
PEACE of Mind
Child Care Resource and Referral Network
Safe Sts of Tacoma
Pacific Medical Centers
Overlake Hospital Medical Center
King County Library Systems
North Central Regional Library
Timberland Library Systems
Redmond Pediatrics
Temple De Hirsch Sinai
Kirkland Moms'
Washington State Legislative Districts 1,6,8,21,39,48 [more to come]
Association of Washington Cities