When children`s safety and well-being in their homes cannot be guaranteed, Safe Space`s residential foster care provides a therapeutic environment where youth receive the structure, acceptance, guidance, conflict management training, and resources they need in order to thrive. Our supervised residences--small, home-like environments--have high staff-to-client ratios that ensure safety, security, care, and guidance to over 200 youth annually. A number of our residences are intended for youth with special needs, including teen mothers and their infants, gay and questioning teens, and HIV+ youth. The youth attend school or GED classes, and learn skills to care for themselves and manage their lives.

Mother-Infant Programs
Our Mother-Infant Program (MIP) houses teenage mothers and their young babies.  Pregnant teens in foster care have exceptional needs and Safe Space staff understand that a 15-year-old girl with a child is, in many ways, still a child herself.  The primary goals of the Mother Infant Program are that the teen mother becomes an effective parent and that she and her child are discharged together as a permanent family in an independent living situation.  We are proud to report that 98% of our teen moms and their babies remain together as a healthy family unit.

SafeHome
Safe Space offers transitional housing to homeless HIV+ teenagers who are also recovering from drug addiction: SafeHome, a brownstone in Manhattan, is the only facility of its kind in New York, serving 20 adolescents each year. We provide counseling and support, coordinated medical treatment, and offer recreation and educational enrichment. Residents, each of whom must obtain fulltime employment or attend school, may stay for up to 24 months.

Supervised Independent Living
Our three Supervised Independent Living residences were established for graduates of MIP, and while the goals of both programs are similar, the SILP`s allow for more freedom in this simulated living environment for older adolescent mothers and their babies. Most of these young women are in college or in specific vocational training.  As their `graduation` from our residential program approaches, we provide help in locating employment and permanent housing, and continue follow-up services for at least six months after graduation.