Someplace Safe has been selected by the Minnesota Department of Health, Safe Harbors Program, to receive funding for a Regional Navigator position.
The Someplace Safe Regional Navigator's role is to identify and coordinate current and emerging services available to youth as well as to help systems identify and assist at-risk, sexually exploited and trafficked youth age 24 and under. In addition, they help to facilitate creation and development of processes for how local, county and state systems will improve their responses for these youth. Regional Navigators serve as experts for local communities, and are the main points of contact for training, information and referrals, and protocol implementation for this program. Someplace Safe's Regional Navigator position will cover a 19-county region in West Central Minnesota, including: Big Stone, Becker, Chippewa, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, McCloud, Meeker, Otter Tail, Pope, Renville, Stevens, Swift, Traverse, Wadena, Wilkin and Yellow Medicine Counties.
Becki Jordan, Someplace Safe Regional Navigator states, "While a tremendous amount of great work is happening across our state, we know that we are only scraping the very tip of the iceberg. As we move forward in working to identify and help youth in need of services, we're doing so in a collaborative way that encourages and empowers each of us as members of our communities to do what we can to end the perpetration and acceptance of these crimes. When we eliminate the demand, we eliminate the need for a supply."
In addition, Someplace Safe continues to receive Safe Harbor Supportive Services funding for the agency's nine-county direct service area in the form of a Regional Youth Advocate, who provides victim-centered services specifically designed to directly support at-risk, sexually exploited, and trafficked youth locally.
For more information on the Safe Harbor program at Someplace Safe, visit: www.someplacesafe.info . If you or someone you know is suspected to be an exploited youth, or a victim of another crime, please contact your local Someplace Safe office or the 24-hour crisis hotline at (800)974-3359.
