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“No agency compares to you all. It was hard to tell our story. We were able to cry and feel supported.”
“I like feeling cared about.”
The Florida Center for Survivors of Torture (FCST) serves survivors of political and state-sponsored torture living in Tampa Bay and Miami-Dade through an intensive case management and strength-based, client-centered model. The goals of the program are to increase self-sufficiency and self-efficacy and to support survivors in their healing process. We assist survivors in rebuilding their lives and work to empower them through a community-based approach.
Utilizing the concept of a “center without walls”, FCST has recruited and trained a multi-disciplinary network of providers including psychiatrists, psychologists, interpreters, social workers, attorneys, and physicians who provide services to clients in the communities in which they reside. To promote healing, the FCST program provides:
- In-home intake assessments complete with psychosocial evaluations
- Linkage to a network of medical, mental health, legal and social service providers trained to work sensitively with survivors of torture
- Professional interpreters to accompany clients to appointments as needed
- Ongoing intensive case management and culturally specific educational/support groups
FCST promotes awareness and understanding by offering the following services for community members:
- Professional development training covering a number of important subjects such as: working with torture survivors, the refugee experience, acculturation in the U.S. and working with interpreters
- Hosting events and presentations to raise community awareness regarding torture and refugee issues
- Serving as a learning site for college students through internships and service learning projects
- Volunteer service opportunities for professionals, students and community members
Contact Information
Pinellas County: 14041 Icot Boulevard Clearwater, FL 33760 Telephone: (727) 580-9790 Fax: (727) 450-7285
Miami-Dade County: 101 Westward Drive, 2nd Floor Miami Springs, FL 33166 Telephone: (305) 805-5060 Fax: (305) 805-5068
Funding is provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement and the United Nations Torture Victims Relief Fund.
