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Bridgeport Safe Start
Bridgeport, CT

Lead Agency: Bridgeport Central Grants Office

Co-Applicant: The Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition (BCAC)

Safe Start Staff:

Kristine Hazzard, Executive Director, Center for Women and Families
Barbara Edinberg, Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition
Rina Bakalar, Grants Coordinator, City of Bridgeport
Cindy Crusto, Local Evaluation Co-Director
Joy Kaufman, Local Evaluation Director
Erain Applewhite, Local Evaluation Consultant

Project Purpose:

The project will utilize Bridgeport's existing collaborative planning and development, groups, including: BCAC, Communities Against Violence in the Home (CAVITH) and the Enterprise Community Organizers to structure the planning process, resulting in the development and implementation of a five year strategic plan which addresses the needs of children, birth to six, who have been exposed to violence. The project will further build on existing collaborative coordination of care groups, including: The FIRST Team, SIRHY, Continuum of Care and the MIT, to structure a comprehensive and coordinated system of care to provide services which are responsive to the needs of children who have been exposed to violence. Bridgeport has a comprehensive array of services for families with children birth to six that will be leveraged to achieve the project's goals and objectives.

Project Goals:

Protect very young children from violence
Promote community-wide adoption of a shared mission
Address violence in the context of the family
Bring all project initiatives to the neighborhood level