With schools about to let out for the summer, it’s important to remember that 38 Seattle Parks and Recreation facilities are Safe Place sites for youth in crisis. This includes 27 community centers, 8 indoor pools, and 3 teen life centers. These facilities display the yellow diamond Safe Place logo that designates them as part of the Safe Place program. Young people ages 12-17 can go to one of these locations and ask staff for assistance. Staff connect the youth to Safe Place through a 24/7 hotline and allow the youth to wait until a representative from Safe Place arrives. Safe Place staff will then assess the situation with the youth and assist the youth in returning to their family or finding emergency shelter.
Along with Seattle Parks and Recreation facilities, a network of over 2100 businesses, schools, libraries, and other organizations, including all King County Metro buses, are designated by the yellow diamond logo as Safe Place sites. These sites, along with the 24/7 hotline, provide a safety net for youth in crisis. Since its inception in 2011, King County Safe Place, a collaboration between Friends of Youth and YouthCare, has taken around 1500 calls from community members, youth, and young adults looking for resources and directly assisted in connecting close to 400 runaway and homeless youth to services.
If you are a youth in crisis or assisting a youth in crisis, King County Safe Place can be reached 24/7 by calling 1-800-422-TEEN (8336) or by visiting any location that has yellow diamond Safe Place logo.
If you would like to know more, you can contact King County Safe Place at safeplace@youthcare.org.