Transitional Living Program provides stability

October 14, 2016

Thomas found his way to the Austin Children Shelter Transitional Living Program in late March. He’s been with us ever since, and things are going great.

A gift to ACS is a gift to Austin children

September 15, 2016

Thank you for caring about the kids who wake up every day at Austin Children’s Shelter. It’s the generosity of others that makes a difference.

Team FX makes Austin Marathon a giving event

August 26, 2016

People are racing to give to ACS. The Austin Marathon and Half Marathon are nearly six months away, but Team FX is already gearing up for the Feb. 19 run.

An On-Ramp to Independence

December 11, 2014

Supervised Independent Living provides skill-building to young adults This week, Austin Children’s Services opened its new Supervised Independent Living (SIL) program, aimed at giving kids more opportunities to learn and practice adult skills. A cottage on the ACS residential campus in East Austin was renovated earlier this year to prepare for the launch. Residents of SIL […]

Austin Children’s Services: Why We Changed Our Name

June 17, 2014

by Kelly White, CEO, Austin Children’s Services The Austin Children’s Shelter officially changed its name last month, to Austin Children’s Services. Here’s why. In the summer of 2013, ACS launched the first of three new community-based programs intended to reach more kids and families in need by keeping them safe in their own homes. First up […]

KIDS COUNT

June 27, 2013

by Katelyn Gorski, Communications Assistant, SafePlace Thursday, June 27 The Center for Public Policy Priorities’ National KIDS COUNT 2013 data book is out. The report ranks the well-being of Texas kids in four categories: economic, education, health care and family and community. Overall, we are ranked 42nd in the nation for childhood well-being (up from 44th). This […]

Protect Our Kids Act A Good Start

January 24, 2013

Last week the Dept. of Family & Protective Services released the 2012 Data Book, its annual tally of the epidemic of child abuse in our state. It’s always a sad moment to flip through the charts and graphs, as they categorize victims and perpetrators by race, by relationship, by location – because the numbers are so […]

Teaming Up to Root Out Abuse

January 17, 2013

Karen Bartoletti,Matt Womack,Mark Mouritsen, LIFT Alliance Board Chairs, wrote an Op-Ed for the Austin American-Statesman this week about how an alliance between SafePlace and the Austin Children’s Shelter would allow them to offer new programs to clients, combine their voices to advocate for change, and share costs. By Karen Bartoletti,Matt Womack,Mark Mouritsen Despite years of effort — building bigger shelters, providing […]

Tell Congress: VAWA Works. Let’s Keep it! – by Julia Spann

December 10, 2012

Perkins was gunned down by the father of her three-month-old daughter, Jovan Belcher, who then killed himself. Kasandra’s murder made the news because her boyfriend was a professional football player, but family violence is a tragedy that hides in plain sight all around us, every day. Hundreds of Texas women and children are killed by […]

Protecting Texas’ Children is a Mission Impossible – by Kelly White

November 14, 2012

The headline on Saturday’s Metro and State section read, “Family services chief resigns.” Reading further we learn just a few of the lurid details associated with recent child abuse deaths in Texas. Texas children have died, and as a fervent frontier state, we will exact revenge. Howard Baldwin, the man at the helm of the […]