Ending The Cycle Of Violence

Ensuring Healthy Environment For Our Children

Safestart

We work to end the cycle of violence by talking with parents and caretakers about how young children can be affected by the violence they witness, and how we can help children overcome these effects. SafeStart case management focuses on keeping the victims and children safe from violence. The program focuses on parents with young children.

Even if it does not directly target the children, exposure to violence can have a significant effect on a child’s brain development and behavior. Children may exhibit symptoms such as unexplainable anxiety or an inability to focus on tasks.

  • APA provides various groups for children including groups that empower children. For example, the Superheroes group specifically targets children who may have experienced violence in community or at home.

  • ACT Against Violence parenting classes are catered towards protecting children from the effects of violence. The class teaches parents how to foster their children’s growth and act appropriately without the use of spanking and yelling. The class also discusses the effects of community violence, as well as domestic violence, on children and families. Even if the children are not the actual target of violence, children may still suffer from anxiety or fear that consequently affects their focus and school performance.

  • Confidential counseling is available to families or individual family members. The API HOTLINE is a resource to parents and youth in times of stress and crisis. Trained hotline volunteers can provide help in Cambodian, Cantonese, Laotian, Mandarin, Samoan, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

Child Abuse Prevention

Every day over 5 children die as a result of child abuse. APA strives to prevent child abuse by supporting families that are feeling stressed or isolated, and lack of social support or alternative parenting methods.

  • Monitored Vistation

    Many children find it hard to be away from their home and families for an extended period of time. We provide monitored visits for foster children and their biological parents, who are working towards getting their children back. We have found that despite abuse, many foster children still long for the connection with their biological parents. We provide a local, warm, homelike environment for monitored visits.

  • Case Management

    What should we know about the services you provide? Better descriptions result in more sales.Many of the families that are prone to child abuse are often faced with stress – dealing with unemployment; lack of support from friends and family due to recent relocation; and/or lack of knowledge of community resources such as government programs, like Cash Aid. A Case Manager is the bridge between our families and community services and resources. A family may need help finding local parenting classes in their native language or filling out government aid applications in English.

Emergency Shelter Grant

Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness among women and children. Women and children escaping or attempting to escape domestic violence often encounter barriers, have no other residence, and lack the resources and support network to find suitable housing and temporary shelter. Individuals have nowhere to go when shelters and emergency housing are closed, full, or just not an option. When there are no alternatives, individuals experiencing domestic violence are reluctant to leave their abusive relationship. Housing consideration is important in deciding to stay or leave an abusive relationship, especially when children are involved.

The Emergency Resource and Shelter Fund for APA families will help provide emergency shelters or short-term safety refuge for individuals and families. At the same time, our case managers look for transitional housing programs and other affordable housing options. The Emergency Resource and Shelter Fund gives survivors the time and support they need when they have no other option than to return to their abuser’s home or face homelessness. The Emergency Resource and Shelter Fund keeps at-risk and homeless families together.