Learn about the Surrey Anti-Gang Family Empowerment Program and how it takes a coordinated approach to prevent and address youth gang violence.

The five-year $7.5 million SAFE Program, funded by Public Safety Canada and led by the City of Surrey, is working to keep children and youth out of gangs while building positive life skills and increasing connections with family, school and community.

With a large population of children and youth living in Surrey, SAFE involves 10 partner agencies delivering 11 individual programs that are disrupting negative pathways to gang violence. Learn more about SAFE below, including its latest initiative, EmpowerSurrey.ca.

Empowering Action, Reducing Risk

Calling all parents, caregivers and trusted adults! Check out Empower Surrey for resources to help keep kids out of gang life.

SAFE Accomplishments to Date

  • From January 2019 to March 2023, SAFE partners collectively extended services to 4394 unique clients including 3879 children and youth at-risk for gang involvement and 515 of their parents and caregivers.
     
  • In an effort to be inclusive and extend the reach of SAFE, 440 clients were offered culturally sensitive programming such as clinical counselling in their preferred spoken language.
     
  • SAFE has a goal of supporting a total of 4730 at-risk children and youth by the end of its five-year funding cycle. After its first 51 months (85% mark), 82% of that target has been met.  
  • In April 2021, the SAFE team launched Empower Surrey, a first-of-its-kind resource offering tips, tools and information to empower parents, caregivers and other trusted adults. To further explore website content, in November 2021 the City and its partners launched the free in person Empower Surrey Parent Workshops which has supported over 1362 registrations across 29 weeknight events.

View full size infographic

Infographic showing statistics about the Surrey Anti-gang Family Empowerment Program

SAFE Centre

The SAFE Centre is at the heart of the SAFE Program. Located within the Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) campus adjacent to Surrey City Hall, the Centre is a new approach to a healthier, safer community.

The Centre is a collaborative space where the City of Surrey's Community Safety section is based and partners meet to coordinate and deliver services. A key initiative that takes place via the centre is the new Children and Youth At-Risk Table (CHART). CHART aims to lower the risk of gang involvement by providing tailored support to children, youth and their families.

The Centre also serves as a key resource for information sharing and safety innovation. Leading experts in community development and safety, collaborate through meetings, workshops, and conferences to tackle difficult issues with space provided at no cost. 

From May 2019 to May 2023, 999 community safety enhancing functions had been hosted on site supporting 12,081 total visits by professionals and clients. Activities supported through these functions have included but are not limited to:

The centre is not a publicly accessible walk-in space and must be booked in advance. To learn more contact the City’s Community Safety Team at communitysafety@surrey.ca

 

CHART Accomplishments to Date

The Children and Youth At-Risk Table (CHART) is one of the SAFE-funded programs and offers data that demonstrates SAFE’s early impacts. Learn more about CHART accomplishments.

 

SAFE Partners

SAFE programs are delivered in partnership with the following organizations:

SAFE Programs

SAFE is made up of 11 programs that are delivered by 10 partner agencies. SAFE programs are designed to:

  • address program gaps with innovative new services;
  • build on effective existing programs;
  • coordinate support for families across agencies; and
  • evaluate programs for continuous improvement of services.

Programs delivered through SAFE support children, youth, and their families by providing services to help divert them away from gang involvement. Some programs deliver cultural support to groups at higher risk and others deliver services in targeted neighbourhoods.

 

SAFE Webinar

Watch this 22-minute webinar to learn more about SAFE’s programming and accomplishments to date.

Available Services

Caregiver Education / Clinical Counselling

Learn about the Caregiver Education Program designed for parents and caregivers of at-risk youth.

Family & Youth Resource Support Team (FYRST)

Learn about the FYRST program that helps youth showing early signs of criminal & gang involvement.

Female Youth Gang Intervention Program

Learn how the Female Youth Gang Intervention Program provides relationship-based support to girls.

High Risk Youth Justice Program

Learn about the High Risk Youth Justice Program offering life skills training to children and youth.

Intercultural Family Intervention Program

Find out how the Intercultural Family Intervention Program can help at-risk youth & their families.

Peer Leadership Program

Find out how the Surrey School District is supporting at-risk youth.

SAFE Community Clinical Counselling

Find out more about SAFE Community Clinical Counselling services.

South Asian Family Strengthening Team

Learn about how the South Asian Family Strengthening Team supports caregivers of at-risk youth.

Youth Hub for Co-operative Enterprise

Learn about the Youth Hub for Co-operative Enterprise, designed for newcomer youth in Surrey.

Contact

Contact any of the SAFE partners listed above to find out about accessing their services.

All communications are kept confidential.

For more information about the SAFE Program, please contact communitysafety@surrey.ca or 778-846-1655.

Supported by:

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