The Institute for Safe Families (ISF) incorporated as a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization in 2001 after starting its nationally acclaimed family violence prevention initiative under the auspices of Physicians for Social Responsibility in the early nineties.

The mission of ISF is to prevent intimate and family violence and to promote the health and well being of each member of the family and the community in which they live. ISF also advocates for changes in systems and policies that affect families living with interpersonal violence.

ISF programs focus on training and education, prevention, and policy activities that will better serve the needs of Philadelphia families and communities that are at risk for or are experiencing interpersonal violence. The majority of ISF’s programs serve Philadelphia families at risk who are traditionally underserved and economically less privileged. Since 1993, ISF has developed innovative programming and built coalitions that unite social service and health care providers, policy experts and researchers, academicians, victim/survivors and community residents. One of ISF’s unique strengths and accomplishments has been to create forums for cross-systems dialogue and collaboration aimed at building greater capacity for an effective prevention and response to interpersonal violence.

ISF has been recognized with numerous awards for its work on family violence prevention, the most recent of which are the 2007 GlaxoSmithKline Community Impact Award, the 2006 Health Partners Making A Difference Award, and the 2004 Children’s Crusader Award from the Philadelphia Department of Human Services.