Our Mission 

Austin Children's Shelter protects and heals children, young adults and families in need.

Who We Are

At Austin Children's Shelter we believe that every child and young adult in our community deserves to feel safe and to receive nurturing care in order to grow into happy, responsible and fulfilled adults. Our goal is to end child abuse and neglect; to create a community and a world that has no need of a shelter for abused or neglected children.

For the first 25 years, we worked toward achieving that vision by providing emergency shelter for children that had been removed from their homes because of abuse and neglect. Today, we provide much more than shelter. We are embracing a broader continuum of services to address the needs of children and their families that includes Emergency Shelter Care, a Transitional Living Program, a Teen Parent Program and Respite Care. In 2013 we will launch Foster Family Services, a Child Development and Family Support Center and a child abuse prevention program through Strong Start.

We are:

• A social service provider focused on protecting and healing children, young adults and families.

• A founding partner with SafePlace in The LIFT Alliance, a partnership of victim/survivor-centered non-profit agencies responding to and preventing child, domestic, and sexual abuse.

• And we are committed to individual and collective action at a community, statewide and national level.

Learn more about what we do. 

To learn more, read our history.

Our Guiding Principles

Safety: We believe that everyone deserves to feel safe and protected. We strive to ensure the mental, emotional and physical safety of all individuals associated with the Austin Children’s Shelter including clients, staff and volunteers.

Survivor Centered: We believe in the knowledge that survivors of trauma bring to their own lives and healing. We believe in trauma-informed care, compassionate healing, and the power of “teachable moments”

Loving, Nurturing and Fun: We believe in the power of caring and of play – for clients, staff, volunteers and community. We will celebrate, grieve, care and honor with and for our clients, staff, volunteers, donors, partners and the community.

Excellence: We will provide the highest quality service to our clients, colleagues and the community every day. We are deeply committed to the work we do, the people we serve and to our mission. We are solution focused and always strive toward excellence in all aspects of our work.

Integrity: We hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards and level of accountability.

Respect and Dignity: We believe in treating every individual with respect and dignity – always. We communicate openly and honestly, we listen and we value others’ views, practices and differences.

Culturally Competent: We value the strength and wisdom that come from all voices and embrace the complexities of communities. We strive, whenever possible, to make the Austin Children’s Shelter welcoming of all individuals, inclusive of all races, religions, national origins, socio-economic status and sexual orientations.

Collaboration: We believe in the transformative power of collective efforts. We recognize that it truly does “take a village” and are committed to working collaboratively with both internal and external partners to achieve our mission.