Practicing safety in human services within group homes is paramount as it not only protects the well-being of residents but also safeguards the human service professionals & social workers themselves. By prioritizing safety, human service professionals & social workers can create a secure and nurturing environment that fosters trust, open communication, and positive interactions, ultimately enhancing the quality of care and support provided to vulnerable individuals in these settings. Additionally, a safety-focused approach minimizes the risk of accidents, crises, and potential harm, ensuring a conducive atmosphere for growth, development, and a higher standard of caregiving.
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Personal Self-Defense Alarm: https://amzn.to/44Fv4dx
Disclaimer: I am not acting in a capacity of or licensed as a clinical mental health provider or social worker. This information is not a form of clinical training, supervision, consultation, or advice. To read the full disclaimer please visit: https://www.britmarie.com/disclaimer
Protect Yourself: Must-Know Safety Tips Working in Group Homes
When we are led to work as a healthcare and healing professional, we often don’t think about needing to learn:
How to train in self-defense
How to cultivate trust in our instincts and not bypass them out of the desire to be of service
Or that we would be attacked for wanting to be helpful and supportive to others
However, these are occurrences that can’t be ignored and when we have these hard conversations it helps us increase:
Decision-making skills
Learning from the past to try and prevent it from repeating
Developing safety plans
Seeking additional training
& learning from one another so we can be aware in the event we are faced with a potentially dangerous environment
My hopes on sharing on this will help normalize discussions around safety prevention and intervention because I do not recall having these discussions in the classroom or during supervision around what to do when our safety is threatened until after the fact of something disturbing already happening. This left me and other colleagues in concerning situations that we did not have the tools to effectively navigate beforehand. With that said there was also a lack in discussions had around how to listen and trust our intuition when that inner radar signals that we are not safe and how to respond to that appropriately.
It's also helpful to consider how stressful & traumatic it can be for clients especially youth being displaced in a group home, living in an unpredictable environment with others who may have behavioral problems, and being around staff they do not know or feel comfortable with. This kind of stress on top of their daily life stressors and any childhood and family trauma they have can create mental health challenges, behavioral problems, and conflicts that everyone involved must learn how to quickly navigate while ensuring safety for all involved.
Trigger Warning
There are references of violence in this post so if this is not the content for you, please take care of yourself, and discontinue reading this blog and seek other informational resources.
Read all client charts thoroughly and update them at every shift change by the staff working beforehand.
Suggest having time built into your shift for chart review before working directly with clients, if not already implemented.
Build in debriefing time between each shift change to communicate with other staff who worked with the clients before.
Discuss any behavioral or temperament issues that may have arisen and any consequences or escalations that occurred.
Aim to stay consistent between staff changes to help the youth know what to expect and hold them accountable for improvements in behavior and appropriate interactions with peers and staff.
Have regular and more lengthy staff meetings outside of debriefing periods, either weekly or biweekly.
Utilize these meetings to discuss areas for improvement and considerations to support both the youth and staff.
Have select staff members be a point of contact with therapists & case managers for proper assessment and understanding of clients' challenges, triggers, and strengths. Which facilitates navigating a healthy approach in working with the clients and reduces misunderstanding and improves de-escalation, stress management, and emotional support.
Thoroughly document in clients' charts:
Avoid sitting areas with exposed backs to prevent someone from approaching from behind.
Set up desks and chairs with backs facing the wall for added precaution.
Place desks closest to the exit whenever possible to ensure a quick exit strategy and to avoid someone blocking the exit.
Strategically place panic buttons throughout the location to signal when help is needed.
Consider options for panic buttons to dispatch local authorities (requires permits from the county).
Remove and store objects away that could be used as weapons in main living areas, workstations, and vehicles used to transport clients.
In the kitchen, have a locked cabinet for knives and scissors.
Immediately wash and store knives and scissors after use, avoiding leaving them on countertops for longer than they must be out.
Avoid wearing cross body bags or back packs around to avoid this being used for strangulation or to be pulled down or around by.
Avoid wearing very lose baggy shirts so it is not used against you to be pulled around by or pulled over the head easily to disorient you.
Wear closed toed shoes to help protect your feet if they are stepped on.
Consider avoiding wearing long hair in high pony tails so it could not be grabbed and used as a means of control and consider wearing a cap or hat of some sort to help protect the hair.
Avoid wearing earrings, especially large or dangling ones, and consider avoiding wearing piercings so they are not pulled out.
If the hair is grabbed, try to place hands around the other person’s hands or wrists and move with them to stay as close as possible to the point of contact to avoid adding extra tension resulting in creating more resistance and injury as loudly call for help.
Again, this was when working with youth which the primary concern was causing no harm to the minor and trying to reduce physical injury for both parties involved so this may vary based on working with adult populations or needing to protect yourself from a serious life-threatening situation.
In threatening situations, try to remove yourself and run to a safe area or the nearest locked room.
If escape is not possible, use a large object as a barrier between you and the other person until help arrives.
If under attack, protect your head and face by placing hands and arms over them to avoid repeatedly being hit there and from losing consciousness.
Alternatively, lie on the ground on your back using your legs to create distance from the attacker.
Again, especially when working with youth the main concern was to cause no harm, so the legs were not used to kick or attempt to injure the other person.
It's essential to understand state laws and agency policy around this but in some instances our self-preservation instincts will take over when our life is at risk which we must learn how to quickly and effectively determine that decision making process and additional self- defense training with experts can help us sharpen this skillset.
Understand state laws and agency policies regarding self-defense working in different human service settings and seeking additional training in self-defense.
Be mindful of positioning when interacting with clients:
Avoid walking in front of clients and instead walk behind them maintaining an arms distance away so you can step back or to the side if an assaulting gesture is made.
When meeting with clients, sit across from them at a table instead of next to them in the event an assaulting gesture occurs.
Self-defense tools that could cause harm like pepper spray, a taser, or other injury causing tools were not permitted working with youth, however, do consider wearing on your person, a personal self-defense alarm.
These devices are discrete and emit a loud siren for attention to the situation and can aid in de-escalation.
Avoid spending time looking down on your phone or walking around distracted on the phone or lost in thought.
Be aware who is walking towards or behind you, if there are spaces where someone may hide and attack unexpectedly, regularly assess the environment for a quick exit strategy or how to put objects and space between you and another person if needed in the area you are in.
Identify all exits and make sure the exits remain clear of obstructions so you can easily and quickly remove yourself if needed.
Be mindful of your surroundings when going to your car and look in the vehicle before getting in to make sure no one is in the vehicle waiting for you.
Do not let clients who have concerning behaviors sit behind you or next to you while driving, in the event, they decide to attack from behind, hit you, or grab the wheel and pull it abruptly while the car is moving.
At the agency I worked for, there were vans to use for transportation, so these youth were directed to be seated in the back of the van to ensure safety.
If something concerning happens while in the vehicle:
Pull the vehicle over to a safe parking space
Get out of the vehicle and advise any other passengers to get out of the vehicle
Call the police or the person in your chain of command at your agency to receive further guidance on how to navigate the situation
Or wait for other staff members to arrive to help address the situation
Use the child and window lock safety features in the event a youth attempts to jump out of the moving vehicle into traffic. If something like this occurs:
Do your best to remain calm
Pull the vehicle over in a safe parking space, ensuring the other passengers and you are safe
Call the police
Call the person in your chain of command at the agency you work for to inform them of what is happening
Avoid getting out of the car in traffic putting yourself and the other passengers in harm’s way
At our agency we were not allowed to touch the youth even in the event of trying to pull them away from harm due to liability reasons and the potential to cause harm through restraint. So, unless you have training and authorization for physical intervention adhere to agency and state policy and wait for local authorities to arrive.
Regularly assess the environment and the client’s behaviors and mood
Tune into your inner radar and whether you are receiving any red flags of concern
Whatever you do, listen to this, and do not ignore it
Determine what these red flags are indicating to you
Begin exploring risk assessment and plans of action for safety depending on what you feel may be off or may occur within the coming moments.
Lastly, do not be isolated or alone in a space where there is a client with a history of assaultive or unpredictable behavior and ensure there are always two staff members present.
Adjust the daily schedule and request increased staffing to ensure there is not gaps of time alone with clients with past offending histories.
When there is a physical or attempted assault, it is encouraged to call local authorities to file a report and allow the legal process to proceed in handling the consequences for this.
Then complete an incident report as soon as possible with as much detail leading up, during, and after the altercation and everyone who is involved.
Usually if other clients were involved only their initials were used to protect confidentiality.
Remember to write down the:
police badge number
phone number
case or report number/s
& request a copy of the report filed to put into all the client’s charts who were involved.
Call the person in your chain of command to report the incident to
they are often the ones who would contact caregivers and higher ups in management to inform them of the situation.
Debrief with the other staff.
Especially when working with youth, we were not allowed to have any physical contact made, we were not allowed to employ restraints or physical interventions but, in some facilities, this is allowed and requires extensive training by the staff and agency.
When the youth began fighting one another we were advised to call the police but not to engage and pull them off one another, we were not step in the middle of the altercation or restrain in any way.
I saw major liability and legal consequences arise when human services providers or social workers involved themselves in any way in an altercation when working at a human service setting.
Even if the agency you work for has an umbrella policy covering staff members, it is strongly encouraged to have your own professional liability policy in place to cover defense and litigation in the event of a complaint or charges being filed if you were involved in an assault even if you were the one being attacked.
I have heard of incidence where the agency policy did not cover certain defense fees for the professionals, and this left them in financial crisis & hardship.
Be sure to contact an attorney for representation immediately if legal implications arise.
There is always a liability that comes with working in these roles, and we must be wise, discerning, and diligent to be the first to protect ourselves and this includes legal & financial protection.
It is important to communicate with other staff and your supervisors if there are situations you are not willing to be in or if there are certain clients you are not willing to work with.
You have a right to these boundaries and to assert your needs and if they are dismissed or invalidated do not stop there and move up the chain of command to voice these concerns and make workplace adjustments.
Your safety is the most crucial responsibility to take care of first before taking on the care of others. Whatever you do, do not ignore your needs and voice your feelings and boundaries until they are understood and put into place to ensure your safety.
Do not self-abandon your own needs and boundaries for any role you work in no matter how uncomfortable it may be to assert yourself.
If you need to do it in writing to make it easier do whatever you have to.
Take advantage of Employee Assistance Programs that cover therapy expenses for brief solution focused therapy which is usually 3 to 8 sessions to help process stress-related work experiences.
Practice quality self-care:
Additional training to consider is DBT training to help learn ideas on how to support highly emotional and reactive individuals as well as navigating self-harming behaviors.
Crisis intervention
Self-defense training
Mental health first aid
Vicarious trauma workshops
Continuing education for an overview of psychopathology to understand mental health and personality disorders to name a few.
Build a trusting professional relationship with those you serve to give them a sense of consistency and support during this disruptive time in their life.
Don’t forget to participate in the fun activities planned for them such as
Listening to music
Dancing
Playing ball
Going on bike rides
Creating art projects
Singing karaoke
Walking around the park
Watching funny movies
Laughing
This is a chance to grow and expand your heart to build rapport and overall human connection which we all want to belong, to be accepted, to feel worthy, and cared for. This goes a long way for any youth regardless of being in a group home or not.
Know what your mental and physical health needs are and how the work you are doing is impacting you and if this is having long term impacts on your well-being, contemplate whether this is the area you should be in.
There are so many different work opportunities to be of service but not all are going to be the right fit and it takes trial and error to figure this out.
I met staff that seemed like they were born for this work, they were resilient, and their hearts remained patient and open while being able to move past troubling behaviors while continuing to see the best within others which was a beautiful thing to witness.
However, there were others, myself included, that this was not work that could be sustained, it was wearing, caused hypervigilance, trauma, triggered past unresolved trauma, and lead to physical stress related symptoms. After two years of working within these demanding environments, I had to be honest with myself and give myself permission to care for these clients from afar and take care of my mental and physical health needs and safety.
Making this decision for myself when I was younger was empowering as I was good at placing others needs before my own and this work experience helped me find my threshold of tolerance that led me to the path of developing self-love and curating a helping professional role that felt well within my spirit to serve in.
Starting out in this field, being young, naïve, and inexperienced, I would have benefited a lot from having these tips and having conversations like this more often instead of after the fact of something troubling happening. So, I hope this information will be helpful for other helping professionals.
As we come to an end of this discussion, I wish you all safety, nurturing self-care, and a fulfilling career path. If you found this information helpful, please join the e-mail list to be notified of future content like this and 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 doing home visits.
Thank you lovely souls, so much for hanging out with me in this blog and I send gratitude to all the helping professionals out there.
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