SAFE Choices:
Serving Youth & Young Adults
Prioritizing the advancement of youth substance use prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery.
Our SAFE Choices Mission:
Foster resiliency in youth development through collaborative and diversified approaches that reduce risk of substance addiction and mental health challenges while empowering SAFE Choices in all stages of youth development.
Our Vision:
ALL youth reach their fullest potential.
Our Goals:
The goal is to ensure young people have the information and tools necessary for making meaningful SAFE Choices. Our goals respect individual basic motivation and personal autonomy, as well as self-determination, and the fact that every person is one choice away from a different life.
- Goal #1: Design and implement innovative programs that build resilience and essential life skills through empowering and engaging education for disparate populations of underserved youth.
- Goal #2: Advance evidence-informed prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery strategies that enhance youth social and emotional learning and wellness in all stages of youth development.
- Goal #3: Foster life-fueling connection opportunities for youth that focus on stigma reduction and the promotion of healthy choices across the lifespan.
- Goal #4: Advocate for effective mental, emotional, and behavior interventions for the youth sector through targeted outreach and the formation of collaborative relationships.
Explore SAFE Choices’ Resources
Youth & Youth-Led Groups
Parents, Guardians, & Caretakers of Youth
Educators & Youth-Serving Organizations
Choose Knowledge: “Power to Empower”
Youth and Young Adult Supplemental Education Program
The No Shame Campaign – “Youth and Young Adult Supplemental Education Program” was developed specifically to increase knowledge AND individual understanding of the principles presented in the No Shame Pledge. Upon completion, individuals will competently and with genuine confidence sign the pledge and be positioned to serve as an advocate. An advocate with a clear understanding of the fact that there is No Shame in asking for and seeking help for substance use and mental health challenges!
SAFE Choices Featured Topic
August 2022
America is going back to school, and the range of emotions span the spectrum from super excited to super stressed. There are many preparations that need to take place before the homeroom bell rings.
This school year, we at SAFE Project encourage you to add a child “Mental Health Checkup” to your list of back-to-school preparations. In October 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) joined together to declare a National State of Emergency in Children’s Mental Health, largely due to soaring rates of depression, anxiety, trauma, and loneliness that were exasperated by the COVID-19 pandemic and already existing disparities, adversities, and inequities for people with mental health concerns.
SAFE Project stands solid on the view that there is no shame in asking for and receiving help for mental health challenges. In 2020, we launched the No Shame Pledge as a way to provide large scale-scale stigma reduction education and empower advocacy and action on the topic.
This school year we are happy to debut a supplemental education program for youth and young adults: the No Shame Education Program. This no-cost program increases knowledge of the principles on the No Shame pledge and empowers youth as informed advocates, individuals who can confidently speak out against stigma and take a pro health stance in support of individual wellness.
Additional Resources & Assistance
For more information about SAFE Choices, contact
Senior Director Ronna Yablonski at: ronna@safeproject.us
SAFE Treatment LocatorQuickly find a treatment facility that matches your needs or the needs of a loved one in an easy, anonymous, and non-invasive way!
Technical AssistanceOur Technical Assistance consists of specialized services, information sharing, skill development, training, program assessment and implementation, as well as capacity building.