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Home Visit Safety Training Developing a Safety Plan of Action for Workers

Home Visit Safety Training Developing a Safety Plan of Action for Workers. PRESENTED BY: SABRINA CAZEAU CLASS Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission Director of Protective Services. Agenda. Purpose Understanding Risk Risk Risk Assessment Addressing Risk and Personal Safety

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Home Visit Safety Training Developing a Safety Plan of Action for Workers

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  1. Home Visit Safety TrainingDeveloping a Safety Plan of Action for Workers PRESENTED BY: SABRINA CAZEAU CLASS Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission Director of Protective Services

  2. Agenda • Purpose • Understanding Risk • Risk • Risk Assessment • Addressing Risk and Personal Safety • Safety Planning

  3. Purpose To assist the Case Worker to recognize and address potential threats to personal safety during the course of a home visit

  4. Risk • Risk is conceptualized as a hazard that is closely related to the probability that an event will occur. • The occurrence of risk can only be forecasted with uncertainty and measured with the potential negative consequence when the event occurs.

  5. Risk

  6. Risk

  7. Risk Assessment • Risk assessment is the ongoing process of identifying risk and studying hazards to reduce the probability of their occurrence.

  8. Assessing Risk • Ongoing process allows room to implement the plans, which address the risks. • Identify the risks • Assess the severity • Review the appropriate documentation and/or initial information received regarding the home and the client • Address the risks and discuss how to decrease the current level • Manage the response by Case Worker and any appropriate parties to ensure safety • Re-assess risks, approach, and manageability

  9. Assessing Risk

  10. Same Bridge-Different views Case Worker Supervisor

  11. Addressing Risk and Personal Safety • Risk can be defined as the potential that a chosen action or activity, including the choice of inaction, will lead to an undesirable outcome. • This notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome exists or existed. • Almost any human venture or purposeful activity, carries some risk, but some are riskier than others.

  12. Safety Planning • How to reduce risk for the Case Worker • Pre-planning or preparation • Gathering information • Establish protocol • Vigilance • Do’s & Don’ts • Sticking to basic human instinct and behavior

  13. Pre-planning • Review of available documents • Case record • Incident reports • Police reports and/or responses to the home • Google search • www.spokeo.com • Facebook

  14. Pre-planning • http://www.mass.gov/eopss/agencies/sorb/ • Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry • http://www.nsopw.gov/?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 • National Sex Offender Registry

  15. Pre-planning • Collateral Contacts • Previous Case Worker • Client • Other involved agencies • Therapist, Psychiatrist, Primary Care Physician • Family members (when appropriate)

  16. Gathering information • # of occupants living in the home • Prior history of violence, substance abuse, police responses • Weapons, guns but…. If possible, obtain information on the location and layout of the home before the visit

  17. Establish Protocol • Supervisors need to be aware of time and estimated duration of home visit • Case Worker should notify supervisor of time of arrival and departure • Weekly/Daily Schedule • Create a procedure to implement if a Case Worker has not checked in the office that day

  18. Exterior Physical Layout • Visual scan of the outside of the home • # of cars • Accessibility (In and Out) • Signs (Beware of Dog, Don’t worry about the dog, worry about the Smith & Wesson) • Bushes • Lighting

  19. Exterior Physical Layout • Do not park your car in the driveway • Keep it at a safe distance but easily accessible to you • Dead End Streets • Car should be facing out

  20. Paperwork/Personal Information • Carry only the minimum • Leave pocketbook/briefcase in locked vehicle • Pad of paper, pen, business card, paperwork you anticipate to use during home visit • Cell phone in hand • Car keys should be at close proximity

  21. Paperwork/Personal Information • Remove children’s photos from key chain • Town permit • School stickers • Stick figures

  22. Personal Information

  23. Personal Information

  24. Personal Information

  25. Paperwork/Personal Information • Any identifying information, which indicates where you live • GPS -Home address • Cell phone • Contact list • Available Apps (security) • Waze

  26. Always… • Carry the local PD telephone number and/or MSP number • Carry Vicks or Menthol-based rub to cover odors • Have hand sanitizer • Have spare shoes in the car • Have gloves and mask in the car • First Aid kit • Flashlight

  27. Always… • Ask if client is alone in the home • Ask if client is expecting anyone to arrive • If someone does arrive, introduce yourself in a general manner and ask the same of the individual present • Conduct the interview/visit alone with the client unless client expresses otherwise

  28. Joint Visits • With local police…always be aware of the officer’s line of fire and stay out of it • With another Case Worker, have a safe word to use if you need to leave the home immediately

  29. Interior Physical Layout • Visual scan of the interior of the home • Point of entry & other possible exits • Location of land line telephone • Barriers (door locks, boarded windows etc.) • Floors • Furniture

  30. Interior Physical Layout • Safety hazards (location of dog, drug paraphernalia, e.g., needles) *Furniture (stains, fluids) • Place yourself close to the exit & face it

  31. Public Housing • Be aware of automatic locking doors in hallways/stairways • Location of manager’s office

  32. Interpersonal skills • Physical Presentation • (Type of clothing, jewelry, shoes) • Politeness • Perceiving client needs (listening) • Efficiency/Promptness

  33. Interpersonal skills • Willingness/Helpfulness • Projecting congruent non-verbal cues • Meeting client needs without making promises

  34. Situation Specific skills • Flexibility to different clients • Sensitivity • Discretion/tact • Good oral communication • Tolerance to pressure/resilience

  35. Situation Specific skills • Understanding and handling cross-cultural differences and needs • Establishing rapport • Remove all judgment/pre-conceived notions

  36. Do’s • Greet clients by name • Treat each client as individuals • Ask questions to remove ambiguities • Obtain facts with limited interruptions (answering cell phones, text messages)

  37. Do’s • Gain client’s confidence • Be helpful • Remain neutral • Be firm and decisive • Know when to agree or disagree • Limit sharing personal information

  38. Positive Non-Verbal Cues • Keeping a respectable professional distance • Maintaining good eye contact in a non-threatening yet attentive manner (strong/solid) • Smiling genuinely • Complementing/mirroring a client’s movements, leaning forward and backward appropriately

  39. Positive Non-Verbal Cues • Lifting head attentively, shoulders back and nodding. (Conveys positive, confident, alert appearance) • Open palm gestures and raised eyebrows. (Conveys attentiveness and interest to client)

  40. Don’ts • Lose temper • Lose patience • Lose professional perspective • Forget you represent your agency

  41. Don’ts • Keep clients waiting • Guess answers to client’s questions to move the interview/visit along • Engage in negative communication • Accusatory tone

  42. Negative Non-Verbal Cues • Positioning too close/far. (Conveys intrusion or unavailability) • Facing a client square on can convey aggression/confrontation

  43. Negative Non-Verbal Cues • Physically turning away conveys avoidance, preoccupation with another task, inattentiveness. • Maintaining poor eye contact, failing to look levelly at client, glaring, brief or sharp glances.

  44. Negative Non-Verbal Cues • Smiling artificially • Any gestures or comments which can patronize a client’s intelligence • Judgmental reactions (disbelief, shock, skepticism)

  45. Negative Non-Verbal Cues • Shrugging and headshaking to display disapproval/lack of care • Sneering, pouting, tapping fingers, looking at watch, shirt, harsh movements. (Conveys impatience)

  46. Facts to consider • 55 % of the message we send to others is with our face. • Invading personal space causes arousal. (Ronald E. Riggio, Ph.D.) • Lie detection is almost impossible. (Ronal E. Riggio, Ph.D.)

  47. Non-verbal cues

  48. Aggression • Aggression is behavior manifested by a client toward a (Case Worker) that may physically injure the (Case Worker), cause a (Case Worker ) to fear for personal safety and/or impose unacceptable levels of stress upon a (Case Worker). Australian Institute of Criminology, 2007

  49. Cues

  50. Cues

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