Helping People, Changing Lives.

San Luis Obispo, CA – Services Affirming Family Empowerment (S.A.F.E.) is a program of Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County. S.A.F.E. along with Direct Services and the Positive Opportunities for Parenting Success (P.O.P.S.) make up the Family Support Services division. Division Director Melinda Sokolowski shares the mission of S.A.F.E. which is to reduce the prevalence of child abuse in San Luis Obispo County. The program is a community based resource system that is linked directly with schools to provide services to children and families. Through the use of family advocates, S.A.F.E. helps families to navigate the system in order to receive services such as mental health therapy and parent education.

In 2010, forty-four families took part in the S.A.F.E. program. Each family was able to receive individual attention and access to a well rounded support system. When Elana (not her actual name) a mother of three children came into the Family Resource Center of S.A.F.E., she received nothing less. Elana and her husband were having difficulties due to his substance abuse and subsequent violent and aggressive behavior. Elana had left home and was seeking help for her children and herself. After meeting with a family advocate, Elana was immediately connected with the Latino Outreach Program Counselor for individual counseling. The Family Advocate enrolled the school aged children in student support counseling at their school sites. The Advocate also arranged counseling for the oldest child who had been a victim of the father’s abusive behavior. The youngest child was also enrolled in Head Start, another program of Community Action Partnership, which allowed Elana to attend ESL classes while the children were at school. After expressing desire to improve her parenting skills, she was referred to free parenting classes in Spanish. With help and support the father acknowledged his substance abuse and was able to seek treatment. He is now clean and sober and the family is living together rebuilding their relationship. For more information on S.A.F.E. and other Family Support Services programs call (805) 474-2032.

Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County is a non-profit agency that focuses on helping people and changing lives through serving 43,000 persons across Central and Southern California. We are committed to eliminate poverty by empowering individuals and families to achieve economic self-sufficiency and self-determination through a comprehensive array of community-based programs.

# # # #