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Years of Success

Shaped By Our History

Founded in 1984, Specialized Alternatives for Families and Youth believes that every child is entitled to a caring and stable living environment. Many children in our nation are abused, neglected and victimized and left without loving parents to care for them. SAFY focuses on these difficult-to-place children, by helping to provide stable homes in order that they may grow into healthy and happy adults.

• 1984 - On January 23, 1984, Specialized Alternatives for Youth (later renamed) opened its doors in Lima, Ohio.
• 1986 – Program expanded into Michigan. By year end, 75 foster youth were served with 54 licensed adoptions.
• 1987 – Office in Dayton, Ohio, opened. SAFY had 265 referrals and placed 80 youth. There were 19 youth in place in Michigan by the end of the year.
• 1988 - The Corporate Office was established in July at the current Delphos, Ohio, site. SAFY worked with over 200 youth.
• 1989 - SAFY continues to expand its services opening an office in Indiana with approximately 117 youth in placement.
• 1990 - In September, 1990, Indiana received its first placement.
• 1991 - SAFY began working on becoming accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA). Kreative Learning, a pre-school and latchkey program in Delphos, Ohio, began in September.
• 1992 – SAFY opened the doors to Safe Harbor, West Central Ohio’s only runaway shelter for troubled teens. SAFY now consists of eight different divisions: West Central (Sidney), Midwest (Lima), Metro (Canton), Capital (Columbus), South (Dayton) and Northwest (Toledo); Michigan and Indiana (Ft. Wayne).
• 1993 - The Great Lakes (Cleveland) Division, Cincinnati Division, Texas and Nevada offices opened. Staff employed by SAFY reached an all-time high of 79.
• 1994 - Specialized Alternatives for Youth became Specialized Alternatives for Families & Youth to better reflect our mission. SAFY of Michigan dissolved. SAFY of South Carolina opened.
• 1995 - SAFY obtained COA Accreditation in February! The Oklahoma division was opened. Two new divisions in Indiana were established - East Central (Muncie) and North Central (Plymouth).
• 1996 - SAFY grows its services once again. In addition to foster care we now handle adoptions. SAFY is now on the World Wide Web. There are 160 staff, 450 treatment foster parents and 800 youth at the end of the year.
• 1997 - SAFY opened our own travel agency called “Spectacular Adventures For You”. To accommodate our rapid growth, we break ground for a new addition to our corporate headquarters.
• 1998 – The Home Office expansion is complete. SAFY expands again with two new sites: Alabama and Kentucky. Kreative Learning enrollment surged to a record breaking 97 youth. Annual staff meeting held with approximately 270 staff in attendance. The census on 1/1/98 is 1082.
• 1999 - SAFY became licensed in Missouri. Dru Whitaker is named new Chief Executive Officer!
• 2000 - SAFY has 21 youth graduate from high school. The Secure SAFY Database (now known as KaleidaCare) was implemented.
• 2001 - SAFY census hit the 1200 mark!
• 2002 - Throughout 2002, SAFY helped approximately 2100 children and families; SAFY assisted in the placement of 43 youth for adoption and finalized 41 adoptions. SAFY’s Centralized Intake Department received over 2700 referrals throughout the State of Ohio for foster care services. Forty foster youth graduated from High School and/or passed their GED.
• 2003 - SAFY served approximately 1500 foster youth and families; Forty-four youth graduated from high school and/or passed their GED in 2003.
• 2004 - SAFY served 1500 children and families; SAFY celebrates its 20-year anniversary. 2004 lauded 30 High School Graduates.
• 2005 - We form a Staff Retention Committee. SAFY celebrates the graduation of 43 of its foster youth.
• 2006 - Launched “One Team – One Mission” theme for ten (10) Foster Parent Conferences throughout 2006; SAFY of Ohio opened up an outpatient mental health facility in Lima, Ohio. SAFY’s Human Resources Department launched an on-line application system available via SAFY’s website.
• 2007 - Fund Development has launched plans for a national event slated for June 2008, called SAFY Poker Run. SAFY Behavioral Health (SBH) in Lima (Ohio) continues to expand and grow.