San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center's SafeStart Program

Darrach Bourke

A former financial advisor with Summit Brokerage Services in Larkspur, California, Darrach Bourke serves as senior vice president at Emerson Equity in San Mateo, California. Darrach Bourke has long been active in charitable giving, and served for nearly 10 years on the board of directors of the San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center.

The San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center offers a number of services and programs aimed at reducing the impact of violence on children and its occurrence. One such initiative is the SafeStart program, which provides workshops to parents to create awareness about how violence can affect their children.

Research demonstrates that young children who witness violence may develop a number of physical and mental problems, including developmental delay, behavioral disorders, depression, aggression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Further, witnessing violence may lead children to have a poor ability to react healthily to stress, and they may develop a proclivity toward violence as adolescents.

SafeStart strives to reduce violence and mitigate its effect on young children in the San Francisco area. In addition to offering parental workshops on violence, the program provides case management and counseling to families with children aged six or younger who may have witnessed violence. Services are available in English and Spanish as well as Cantonese and other Asian languages.