Local Meetings in the Birmingham Area

Get The Resources You Need Locally To Deal With The Changing Attitudes Of Your Child

The general response to youthful rebellion, especially alcohol and drug use, is counseling, rehabilitation, or juvenile lockup. The results of these efforts are often disappointing. With proven success, Safe Harbor’s local Refuge Program addresses the home environment, working with both the teen and parent in order to reverse the tide toward destruction of home and family.

Know the Signs:

  • Dropping grades
  • New friends that you don’t know or don’t approve of
  • Social withdrawal
  • Truancy
  • Never sleeps, or sleeps all the time
  • Slurred speech, red eyes, runny nose
  • Loss of interest in school, family, or activities that your child used to enjoy

After an initial consultation, families are invited to attend a local Refuge site. Refuge sites host 12 week sessions which run concurrently throughout the year. During these sessions support is available to help teens gain self-respect, acceptance, and security. The sessions also guide parents in better assessment and control of their respective situations.

Not only do the adolescents have a mentor, the parents also have parent encouragers who stand alongside the family and offer support. Our program differs from other programs in this unique way – we work with the adolescent AND their family.

Education and Prevention

The best deterrent to family heartache is a well informed parent, and that extends to a well-informed teacher, pastor, legal or medical professional, and the general public. Our goal at Safe Harbor is to provide current and verified information about youth culture through presentations, speaking engagements, the internet, and media in general. The pressure on youth to make poor and dangerous choices is tremendous and parents are often caught off guard and ill-informed.

Safe Harbor provides a means to identify at-risk behaviors before they become a life-threatening problem.

Contact Safe Harbor Today

Destructive behavior by today’s youth crosses all economic, social and religious boundaries. We live in communities, attend schools, and work in places where the effects of alcohol and drug use, addictions and other rebellious behavior present serious obstacles to a safe and productive family and community.

Start Healing Your Family

Understanding Adolescents

Everyone has an interest in adolescents, even in the workplace where companies face the absenteeism of parents who are in the midst of a home crisis. Youth in trouble are found in our legal system and Safe Harbor is addressing these juvenile offenders with its Community and Court Referral Program. Seventy percent (70%) of Alabama’s children who leave the Department of Youth Services (DYS) will return to the system as repeat offenders. Safe Harbor provides a new interface between these youth and the legal system that can restore these children to a better future lifestyle.

Risk Factors

Some of the risk factors that Refuge addresses:

  • Peer pressure
  • Peer rejection
  • Low self-esteem
  • Anger
  • Depression
  • Bullying
  • Poor social skills, communication and problem-solving
  • A non-structured home environment
  • Ineffective parenting skills
  • Promiscuity
  • Alcohol and other drug use