A Safe Place

Direct beneficiaries per year: 2,600

Geographic areas served: northern Illinois

Programs: Shelter & crisis advocacy - we provided 7,233 nights of emergency shelter to 89 adults and 99 children. This included victims who stayed at the shelter facility as well as 26 victims who received 138 nights of shelter at local hotels. (hotel shelter is provided when there is no room at the agency's 35-bed emergency shelter. ) while at the shelter, victims and their children received 6,500 hours of counseling and advocacy services as well as food, clothing, and other basic needs. A safe place also operates a 24-hour crisis line out of the emergency shelter, also providing immediate in-person crisis counseling for those in immediate danger. Support is available any time, day or night, for victims in crisis or concerned friends or family members who are seeking information on domestic violence and our services. During the year, we received 2,833 crisis calls.

transitional living - affordable, safe housing - we provided 14,894 nights of safe housing in transitional living apartments to 30 women and 44 children. Women sign six-month leases and can renew for a stay of up to two years in our transitional living program. Along with affordable housing, the tenants receive on-site supportive services, including domestic violence support groups, life skills training, and counseling services for adults and children. This section of the form 990 includes the safe housing aspects of the program, while supportive services are provided through and reported under our counseling and life skills program.

counseling & life skills - therapists, counselors and advocates provided 6,917 hours of advocacy, counseling/therapy, art therapy, and life skills training services to 558 adult victims and 158 child witnesses. These services were provided in english, spanish, and polish in both group and individual settings. Specialized art therapy is also provided to children and families. Victims served included those residing at our transitional and permanent supportive housing programs. Our on-site life skills staff provided 1,241 hours of counseling and economic, educational, housing, and other life skills training to over 100 residents of our supportive housing facilities to help victims transition to independence and safe lives.

family visitation center - a safe place's family visitation center supervised and facilitated 1,403 custody exchanges and 1,194 visitations, with safety of children and victims as the primary concern. During the first 6 months of the year, 82 families were served and during the second six months, 86 families were served. 78% of cases involve families impacted by domestic violence, with the majority of the remaining families impacted by child abuse. (other cases involve sexual assault and stalking). In addition, the center provided 6 training events to 71 persons involved in visitation and custody exchange cases. Legal advocacy - our legal advocacy program, located in the lake county courthouse provided assistance to 1,726 victims seeking orders of protection for domestic violence. Our legal advocacy team assisted victims in obtaining 1,389 emergency, 3 interim and 551 plenary domestic violence orders of protection. In addition, we assisted 721 victims to obtain order of protection related to sexual assault, and stalking/no-contact. Through the staff, including several volunteers, over 4,600 hours of advocacy was provided to victims. Outreach & education - we work to educate the community about the dynamics and effects of domestic violence, and advocate for victims, while raising awareness of the services that are available through multiple outreach efforts by staff members dedicated to our education programs as well as through staff members from every area of our agency. Education and outreach are provided at businesses, religious institutions and other community gatherings. We also educate professionals such as social workers or law enforcement officials who may come in contact with domestic violence victims. We provided over 1,100 hours of education through 432 presentations to 5,500 people. To address the issues of teen dating violence, a safe place also facilitates healthy dating presentations at local schools and agencies to educate youth and teens. 111 of these presentation, which work to prevent domestic violence through education on red flags, abusive dynamics and the options available for teens, were provided to 2,648 youths during the year. Abuser services - ipdav - intervention program for domestice abuse & violence - we also work to eliminate domestic violence and increase the safety of victims by working directly with abusers. Our abuser intervention program provided over 3,200 hours of counseling through a six month program to 253 perpetrators of abuse, teaching them accountability and helping them to examine and change their abusive behaviors. Each participant is individually assessed before being placed in a weekly group. 102 clients received assessments during the year. Human services collaboration - during the year, a safe place continued its role as fiscal agent for the alliance for human services, an organization dedicated to continuously improving the delivery of human services in lake county. To ensure the quality of life for people in our communities. The alliance takes a leadership role to promote collaboration, to enable the delivery of innovative, sustainable programs and accessible services, and to advocate for the human service sector. The organization recently obtained its own 501(c)(3) status and will file its own form 990 next fiscal year. Significant accomplishments thus far include choosing and beginning the implementation of a shared data base has been chosen, serving as the new "home" for the respond coalition, creating a formal link with illinois partners for human services, and gaining access to ensure the health and human services sector "has a seat at the table" in critical meetings throughout lake county and beyond. The alliance has also been a co-coordinator of the education and assistance efforts for lake county regarding the affordable care act. Health insurance navigation - during the year, we continued our participation as health insurance "navigators" in the county-wide effort to enroll the uninsured under the provisions of the affordable care act, helping many of our clients and others needing affordable health insurance. We provided education on the act to 2,308 persons and directly assisted 221 persons with the online health insurance application process, also providing post-enrollment assistance to 118 persons. We also provided 53 outreach presentations to over 1,000 participants and various community and corporate/business events. Permanent supportive housing - affordable, safe housing (reported under a safe place ii lp) - in this companion to our transitional living program, we provided 19,228 nights of safe housing in permanent supportive housing apartments to 28 women and 59 children. This program's income and expenses are reported under a separate taxable entity's tax return (a safe place ii lp - see schedule r in this form 990) for which we are the general partner. Along with affordable housing, the tenants receive on-site supportive services, including domestic violence support groups, life skills training, and counseling services for adults and children, provided through and reported under our counseling and life skills program.