Whether you're a seasoned practitioner or just starting your career in human services, these tips are invaluable for safeguarding both yourself and the individuals you work with. We explore 14 essential safety tips that every professional in the field should know from understanding the neighborhoods you work in, assessing the mental health status of clients, navigating concerning behaviors, exploring the importance of coordination with other helping professionals, establishing healthy boundaries, and trusting your intuition. Join the conversation to create safer work environments and provide better support to those in need.
Disclaimer: I am not licensed or acting in a capacity of a clinical provider or social worker. This information is not a form of clinical consultation, training, supervision, or advice. Always adhere to your state policies and professional ethics and training requirements when it comes to your work in being of service to others in these professional roles. See full disclaimer here https://www.britmarie.com/disclaimer
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When I completed practicum working in public housing in an inner city, one of the first things I was advised was not to walk around the premises alone due to high rates of violence, homicide, deadly domestic violence occurrences, kidnappings, drug use, & gang related crime and shootings.
When working in certain public housing developments regardless of if the person had no concerning behavioral history we would always go in threes and a male social worker had to be present due to the high rates of drug use and violent crimes.
However, there were other housing developments in different neighborhoods of the same city that did not come with the same concern so there can be significant differences within neighborhoods within the same city that we need to educate ourselves on.
When performing home visits for residence who have a history of violent or concerning behavior, ensure these meetings are arranged beforehand.
provide a phone call to the client right before going to their home to avoid startling them or triggering defensive behavior if they forgot about the appointment.
If there is concerning behaviors or the clients reasoning and judgment is impaired or they are under the influence, remove yourself immediately from the situation or do not attend the home visit.
If you have already arrived, let the person know that you are going to excuse yourself and go back to your car and that you need to leave but you are going to give them a call to finish the meeting over the phone.
Then you can call them to get a better assessment of their functioning and if there are concerns, you can let them know it appears they are having a tough day, and you can express support and compassion letting them know you are here to help support them and to see how you can help out with their needs.
Then determine what type of support and intervention is needed, such as utilizing welfare checks with trained interventionists or local authorities or revert to the safety plan if there are concerning areas showing up and what steps were outlined to do in the event of that concern.
* Some case workers have the approval to provide clients transportation and go to the hospital with them to ensure they get checked in and their mental health needs are served. However, it will have to be considered one’s level of comfort, training, agency policy, client and staff safety, and the client’s level of functioning, but when in doubt call local authorities and meet them at the location for emergency services if you are working in such a role.
Work with clients' mental health and healthcare providers to collaborate on their care and gain greater insight into healthcare needs and mental health challenges that the client is enduring.
If you are the mental health provider working with other helping professionals who do home visits, ensure there is an ROI on file and consent given by the client to share about the general scope of their mental health history and create safety plans to address how to support clients when there is a history of substance dependence or use, a history of severe persistent mental illness, or if they begin enduring a manic or psychotic episode or suicidal or homicidal ideation.
This can help mitigate crisis or unhelpful intervention with local authorities that can exacerbate a mental health condition or episode and instead get psychiatric support and services in place as soon as possible to ensure everyone’s safety.
A probation officer shared that during a home visit the client was not cooperating and would not let them in and they would not come out of their home to meet with them and they felt this was cause for police intervention and arrest because it was in violation of their probation requirements but then they remembered their mental health history involving paranoid ideation and persecutory delusions from authority figures and was instead able to contact a crisis intervention trained officer also known as a CIT officer who is trained at addressing mental health matters in a non-confrontational manner to help lower distress, increase rapport and compassion, and aid the individual to psychiatric care in a non-threatening or forceful manner which can go a long way in reducing potential for post-traumatic stress responses if faced with force and improper response to their level of functioning and needs. This collaboration of care aided in knowing how to discern the difference between unlawful behaviors versus a mental health episode or crisis.
It’s encouraged to go in pairs when there is a history or concern around safety concerns.
When arriving to the home you can remain outside on the front steps and stand a few feet back from the door and the client to ensure safety in the event an assaulting gesture occurs.
If a home visit can be avoided, see if it is an option to meet with the client at the main office.
Explore the option to have another human service provider present during the office meeting.
If there is not another staff available to be present then if it is available, find an office closest to the front desk, so the receptionist is in hearing distance and keep the door partially opened with the staff member sitting closest to the door to exit quickly if needed.
Preferably sit with a large table in between you and the client to act as a buffer if an assaulting gesture occurs.
Try to schedule these meetings during times of the day where there will not be other community members and clients in close proximity to provide privacy and ensure confidentiality especially when the door is not closed.
Sometimes meeting in an office setting isn’t an option due to clients who may be dealing with pest infestations such as bed bugs, lice, and cockroaches and until they receive treatment for their housing unit, it can pose a risk of spreading the pests into new areas. Also, when it is winter and it is too cold to remain outside due to pest infestations or concerning behaviors, you can explore your agencies policies on doing check-ins via the phone or an online meeting. This leads us to our next safety tip for home visits in human services.
It is important to have conversations and set healthy boundaries with clients when concerning behaviors arise whether this is due to mental health challenges, substance use, or personality factors.
You can provide information about how the agency policy addresses recurring problems like this and how it may negatively impact the resources and services they are receiving to support their quality of life.
Encourage clients to work with their case managers to find psychiatric services & substance use treatment to manage their healthcare needs and reduce occurrences.
Another important thing to address around this is helping them find transportation to their appointments as this can be a major barrier to ongoing participation in services.
Know who is approved to be present during the visit and anyone who is not must leave upon your arrival.
If there is refusal, then you will have to use your discretion to continue the visit or to end it, but this would often lead to the end of a visit as clients are most often well informed of their need to get others approved to be present during visitations or home visits.
While at a home visit remain close to the door.
Sit with your back against a wall so no one can walk up behind you.
Be aware of all exits and any obstructions that may be in your way if you needed to quickly remove yourself.
You can ask that a chair is placed by the door so you can sit there during the visit.
If there is any suspicion of drug or alcohol use, the home visit should be ended immediately.
If there are any behavioral or mental health concerns, you are entitled to end the visit and call any additional support staff to intervene if necessary.
If there is any aggressive, rude, or abusive behavior towards you or reluctance to participate in the reason for the home visit, you are entitled to end the visit and not subject yourself to this type of treatment.
Ensure you have these phone numbers easily accessible in the event of needing additional or emergency assistance or to inform others of the client’s current state of functioning if impaired or the client is enduring crisis.
The Local Police Department
Emergency Services
Emergency Psychiatric Services
Crisis Centers & Hotlines
Phone Numbers of the Management Team in Your Chain of Command at Your Agency
Client’s Emergency Contacts
Other Case Managers and Healthcare Providers
Have releases of information on file to talk to clients’ emergency contacts and those they have identified as their social supports that they consent to have a part of their care.
When having this established support system for the client, this can be helpful for their loved ones to reach out and share any updates on the client's level of functioning or concerns and provides the opportunity to reach out to them to gain greater insight into their level of functioning or needs if they are not responding to outreach.
Develop safety plans with the client, their loved ones, other helping professionals, and their medical and mental health providers.
In the safety plan, identify:
Points of contact for crisis intervention
Family contact information
The Clients triggers
Strengths
Coping skills & stress management practices
Safe environments
Identify what warrants the need to use the safety plan (e.g. substance use/intoxication/relapse, depressive, manic, or psychotic episodes, disruptive mental health symptoms, violent or impulsive behaviors, discontinuation of medication or treatment, suicidal or homicidal ideation/intent, self-harm/mutilation, domestic violence, etc.)
This is not an exhaustive list and its best to have the safety plan tailored to the client's particular needs and make sure everyone has a copy of the plan. This collaboration with the client's support system can assist with putting into place services and resources to help mitigate crisis, harm, or deterioration in functioning.
Even if some of these areas of training are not fully related to the role you are in and of course always work within your role and level of competency, this information is invaluable to have for anyone working in human services as added measures of personal and client safety until trained professional intervention can be involved if needed.
Learn how to attune and listen to your inner radar. For some this comes as an inner voice or inner knowing and for others it will be a felt sense or visceral feeling that something is off.
Do not enter a home when you have a gut feeling it is not safe, if this is a pressing feeling, do not chalk this up as paranoia or hypervigilance and end the visit or remove yourself as soon as you become aware of red flags.
I don’t recall discussions within my professional or academic career where we discussed intuition and tuning in to listen to our gut feelings until I met my mentor much later into my career which he still reminds me often how to lean into my intuition and use introspection to explore what is going on in my inner world especially when working with others. This has been such a helpful thing to consider and has aided in building self-trust, discernment, and self-knowledge.
If you have unresolved trauma, it can create feelings of hypervigilance and negative distortions of the world and others which makes it difficult to discern true threat versus a trauma trigger and if this is the case my hope is you will take care of your mental health and seek treatment to help resolve this so you can reconnect with that inner source of wisdom.
Many individuals have shared stories that they felt a gut feeling about an environment or person, before something troubling happened or before they were assaulted, or they could sense something telling them to not go somewhere they were planning only later to find out some type of distressing situation occurred where they were supposed to be.
Consider letting a loved one know what time your shift starts and stops.
Provide loved ones the phone numbers to your managers so they can reach out if they haven't heard from you or you did not call or arrive home when expected.
If there is a concerning family or client you are working with, inform your supervisor to address these concerns by determining your comfort level of continuing to work with them and/or discuss safety planning.
When there are concerns, let your supervisor know what time you will be there and request they call after a certain time to check in.
For any human service professional who may not have the assertiveness skills and boundaries developed to communicate their needs or feelings of discomfort, the time is now to grow and cultivate the courage to find your voice and set those boundaries.
Once we face the discomfort of advocating and setting boundaries for ourselves you will surprise yourself with the reward you receive within of witnessing your own power, strength, and self-worth which also helps those you serve do the same. There are many ways to be of service, but it must be done in a way that you feel safe and comfortable with.
I know in these safety discussions we are going down the darker side of things when it comes to choosing the positive path of being of service but when we address these challenges together and the impacts and demand it has on a person’s psyche and health, we can work in solidarity to support one another and create safer work environments for all.
If there are additional safety tips you would like to share to support others in this work, please share those suggestions in the comments on the YouTube video about this post so we can continue to support one another and gain greater knowledge together.
If you found this information helpful, please join the e-mail list to be notified of future content like this and please share this with anyone else who may benefit from this discussion and be on the lookout for my upcoming videos that will cover tips on how to safely work in insanitary environments and cope with vicarious trauma.
Thank you so much for joining me in this blog; my compassion and gratitude is with you all!
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