Subscribe
Jobs
Cars
Real Estate
Apts
Classifieds
Shop
In an effort to create a safe place for children in trouble, Mayor Tom Henry on Thursday announced the start of the city’s Safe Haven program.
Henry, who campaigned on the proposal, said the program would identify homes and businesses throughout the city that children who feel in danger can go to for protection. The mayor spoke at the first safe haven home in the Harrison Hill neighborhood.
To qualify for the program, interested homeowners and businesses will apply to the city and undergo criminal background checks. Henry said if private donations can’t be obtained to pay for the checks, the city would pay for them because of their importance.
John Weicker, security director at Fort Wayne Community Schools, said the program is important because children need to feel safe to thrive.
“Kids don’t learn as well as they could if they don’t perceive they are safe,” he said.
The school district and the Fort Wayne Mad Ants are partnering with the city for the program. Jeff Potter, Mad Ants president, said the team will launch a Web site in the near future with safety tips for children and information about the Safe Haven program.
The city’s program has no affiliation with the safe haven law that allows mothers to leave newborns at firehouses and other specified sites with no questions asked.
