Metro Transit Joins Youth In Need's Safe Place Program

All aboard! Metro Transit is the newest and largest partner to join the St. Louis area Safe Place program, designating more than 300 buses and trains in Missouri as mobile Safe Place sites. The addition doubles the number of Safe Place sites in the region, making Youth In Need’s program the largest in the country and providing youth in crisis with even greater access to services.

“Our community is privileged to have so many businesses committed to the well-being of our youth,” said Jim Braun, Youth In Need’s President and CEO and a board member for the national Safe Place program. “To have the support of our local transit system means that youth in crisis have more than 300 ways to access help when they need it. We expect that we’ll see an increase in the number of youth who reach out for help because of Metro’s visibility in the community.” 

In 2011, more than 100 youth have accessed help through a Safe Place site. In addition to Metro’s trains and buses, many fire departments, libraries and schools, all QuikTrip convenience stores and Walgreens stores also serve as sites. More than 800 sites exist regionally.

“MetroBus and MetroLink vehicles for many years have been safe havens for people who need help. This partnership with Youth In Need provides another resource for youth in Missouri who find themselves stranded or in trouble,” said John Nations, Bi-State Development Agency /Metro President and CEO.

Managed regionally by Youth In Need, Safe Place is a national program that connects youth in crisis to needed services through trained businesses designated as Safe Place sites. Youth can identify participating businesses by looking for a yellow and black, diamond-shaped Safe Place sign. Any child or teen in a crisis situation can enter a site and ask for help. When helping a child, all Metro locations and sites in St. Louis County call the St. Louis County Youth Connection Helpline, which will dispatch a Youth In Need Street Outreach worker to assist the youth. Employees at sites located in St. Charles County or St. Louis City call Youth In Need’s Emergency Shelter.

Metro’s partnership with Safe Place builds on St. Louis County’s one-year-old Youth Connection Helpline. The first-of-its-kind helpline is funded by the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund and is a collaboration between Youth In Need and Behavioral Health Response (BHR).

The innovative helpline offers multiple access points for youth and families in crisis to quickly connect 24 hours a day, seven days a week with needed resources throughout the community. With the tagline, “Call. Text. Go.,” the helpline offers phone, texting and Safe Place for youth experiencing crisis.

Youth In Need, a proud member of the United Way, is an eastern Missouri regional agency serving more than 11,500 children, teens and families each year with residential group homes, homeless street outreach, education, counseling and support groups, foster care case management and infant, child and family development programs. Youth In Need’s mission: Believing in the power of potential, Youth In Need’s mission is to provide nurturing environments and educational opportunities so children, youth, and families will find safety and hope, achieve their goals, and build a positive future. Youth In Need’s programs and services are funded, in part, by its 2011 Children’s Partners, including Monsanto as the exclusive Principal Partner. Visit www.youthinneed.org for a complete listing of Youth In Need’s Champion, Guardian, Trustee and Patron Partners.