         
|
|
|
|
1st appeared
16
March 2000
City Wins Grant to Help Children Affected by Violence; UCSF Program Leads Planning Representatives from a collaborative including city government, law enforcement, the courts and UCSF announced this week that San Francisco has been named one of the nine national SafeStart Demonstration Project sites to help young children exposed to or victimized by violence. The project is funded by the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. San Francisco is expected to receive approximately $670,000 over 18 months, and then up to an additional $670,000 per year over four years. "We now know that even very young children exposed to violence are more likely to become violent themselves, regardless of whether they were victimized directly or indirectly, by witnessing violence," said the project’s lead planner Alicia Lieberman, director of the UCSF Child Trauma Research Project at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center. "Only with direct, supportive intervention can we break the cycle." The UCSF program treats preschool age children and their mothers who are exposed to domestic violence, conducts research and trains professionals who deal with early childhood trauma. "With the recent shooting of a first-grade child in Michigan, we were all reminded yet again of the tragic reality of violence in children’s lives," said Deborah Alvarez-Rodriguez, director of the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF). "Here in San Francisco we are committed to the health and safety of all of our residents, especially children. By coming together as a city we can mitigate the far-reaching impact of childhood trauma on our youth, families and communities." San Francisco’s SafeStart will coordinate the multiple systems and fragmented service delivery networks that currently come into contact with children, up to age 6, who witness or are victims of family and community violence. All of the major child-serving public and private nonprofit agencies in San Francisco will be involved, including the Mayor’s Office, DCYF, Unified Family Court, Department of Human Services, District Attorney’s Office, Police Department, and San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center. Numerous academic and community-based organizations will also be partners. The project will focus on early and intensive intervention and prevention efforts. Planned activities include developing of a "Family Violence Court," protocols to identify and assess children involved in violent situations, home visits for families at risk of violence, and culturally competent community awareness programs related to parenting practices. SafeStart is part of the Children Exposed to Violence Initiative launched by President Clinton in 1998. The other cities or counties selected to launch SafeStart programs are: Chicago; Baltimore; Spokane; Bridgeport, CT; Pinellas County, FL; Washington County, ME; Rochester, NY; and Chatham County, NC. Link: New Treatment Approach Shows Positive Results for "Double Victims" of Domestic Violence |
||
|
DAYBREAK | ARCHIVES
| CALENDAR
| CAMPUS NOTES Copyright ©2000 Regents
of the University of California. All rights reserved. |
||
