SAFE Homes

• It is a way for parents to join together to help provide a safer environment for their children.
• It provides a way for parents to talk to each other and to unite in a clear “No Use” message to youth that there will be “No Use” of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs in their homes or on their property.
• It is simply a public agreement between parents and guardians to follow some simple principles, which allow their child/children to grow up in a genuinely safer world.

No. It is a free program open to any adult who agrees, signs the SAFE HOMES pledge, and lives by this agreement in their home.

Joining the SAFE HOMES network lets children know you care where they are going, who they are with, what they will be doing, and when they are to return home. It helps parents and guardians establish a clear consistent “No Use” message about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Your children should know you are talking with other parents and the parents have agreed on some similar rules and guidelines for their children.

Ideally, prevention starts before a child goes to school. Children need to know exactly what their parents expect of them. Parents can do this by making clear, consistent, and fair rules and consequences while the children are still young and willing to listen and follow directions. Discuss early and often with your children your expectations there will be “No Use” of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs by your children or their friends.

Parents are expected to talk with their children about the pledge and maintain the pledge principles in their homes.

Trust does not have to be blind trust. Parents have every right to know where their children are, who they are with, and what they are doing. Our children are growing up in a world much different than the one in which we grew up. A child can always be told, “I love and trust you but not the world in which you are growing up and I need to know about that world in order to be a good parent to you.”

The SAFE HOMES project coordinator and other parents who have also signed the pledge will have your name and/or phone number. Your phone number is never given out unless you have first signed the approval to do so on the SAFE HOMES pledge form.

The pledge says you will not allow anyone under 21 to have alcohol in your home or on your property and you will secure all forms of alcohol in your home. If you are over 21, a good role model, and practice low-risk use, it is your decision.