If you are seeking assistance from Angel’s Safe House, seek the following checklist. If you have been unable to locate any safe shelter for a severe crime victim after completing the below checklist, prior to calling us.
Law Enforcement and Medical Professional Checklist
Are you an employee of the Springfield Police Department or a medical care facility?
If yes, continue below.
If not, see our webpage for victim resources and reach out to those resources directly.
Are you currently in the presence of a victim of a serious crime who needs emergency shelter and has no safe place to go?
If yes, continue below.
If not, see our webpage for victim resources and reach out to those resources directly.
Does the victim you are caring for need medical attention?
If yes, provide or arrange for transportation for them to a medical care facility of their choice. Upon arrival at the care facility, advise the victim it would be safer to have the hospital list them as a private patient. While at the hospital, have the victim contact The Victim Center at (417)864-SAFE(7233), a 24-hour hotline for local crime victims to access resources. The Victim Center is the first call when trying to access local shelter resources. Local hospital addresses are mapped below.
If no medical attention is needed, continue below.
Is the victim in fear of immediate danger from their attacker?
If yes, have the victim contact The Victim Center at 864-SAFE and they will speak with a trained Volunteer Victim Advocate or professional staff members who will walk them through the overall process of obtaining an order of protection (ex-parte order). They will also assist them in contacting local shelters to see if there are any openings and accessing other victim resources.
If not, advise the victim of the process to obtain an order of protection (ex-parte), and provide them with the 864-SAFE hotline.
The order of protection application process can be viewed online at the Greene County Circuit Clerk’s website, and The Victim Center can assist the victim with what the process looks like.
Was the victim able to secure a safe place via the resources provided by The Victim’s Center?
If yes, arrange safe transportation for the victim to that safe location. Once they are there, the staff can provide them with further resources. Some of those resources are listed under our Victim Resources web page.
If not, ask the victim if they have friends or family to stay with until shelter services are available. Sometimes this is only a day or two wait. Assist the victim in contacting these personal resources. If they cannot get ahold of them, ask for an address and see if local law enforcement can assist in locating a safe place for the victim by going to the family member's or friend’s house and getting them in contact with the victim. Be sure the victim agrees with this arrangement. Locate the address and contact law enforcement to help.
If you’ve exhausted these steps and the victim still needs a safe location, continue to the next step.
Reach out to all regional shelters to see if they have any vacancies.
The Connecting Grounds has created an extremely reliable and valuable smartphone application to assist with community outreach. This app is a must-have! Download the app with the instruction from here.
After downloading the app, check for any open beds. The list includes the names and contact numbers of many shelters. Reach out to them to see if they can help accommodate your victim. Keep in mind this is a temporary solution. The victim can follow up with more services the following business day through resources provided by other organizations. The Victim Center can help the victim get on this path. If one of the shelters in the app can provide temporary safe shelter for the victim, arrange transportation and follow the steps above (order of protection information, 864-SAFE hotline contact information, etc.).
If none of the shelters have availability, this is where we come in! Contact us at Angel’s Safe House. We are here to help in times like these. Remember, only law enforcement or medical staff can contact us with referrals. Those who have the ability to use our services have our number. For those seeking services, contact us via email and we will respond as soon as possible.
