I've been interested in finding some kind of approach to practice my social skills in a safe environment, what services offer something like that?

Already mentioned, but Meetup and its kin (Eventbrite, Facebook events) are good gateways into meetups that you’d have enough interest in that the possibility of connecting with someone you’d get along with is high.

Meetup.com. Seriously. A public meetup is probably used to getting the occasional random awkward person, and may have introductions built into its format. I've had good luck with smallish ones, anyway.