Course Details

Course Description

Safety planning with survivors can be a daunting task – safety planning templates are often long and detailed, and once they are completed may be filed away and rarely looked at again. Many advocates may not see safety planning as a part of their role with a survivor depending on their position within the agency. The best safety planning, however, is not long and involved, but occurs in small pieces and changes over time with the survivor’s circumstances. It allows the survivor to guide the process and respects her decisions. Thorough and practical safety planning also considers ALL of the ways in which a survivor’s safety can be compromised, not just by the abuser’s actions, but by other factors such as the survivor’s loss of income, emotional stress, or the actions of the survivor’s friends and family. 

In this 3-part webinar series, we will look at the many opportunities for advocates in all roles to incorporate safety planning during even brief interactions with survivors. We will focus on safety planning that is both trauma-informed and survivor led. We will brainstorm creative and unique strategies for safety planning beyond the standard forms and checklists. 

Continuing Education Hours: 1.5

This training has been approved by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council for continuing education units (CEUs) for state-certified domestic violence shelters.

Objectives

In Part One of this 3-part series, attendees will learn: 

• A trauma-informed approach to safety planning, especially when addressing the survivor’s emotional safety and safety around mental illness and substance use 

• Safety planning that allows the survivor to lead the process and respects her decisions 

• Age-appropriate ways to include children in safety planning 

Indended Audience

Administrative and direct service staff of domestic violence community or shelter based programs.

Course Documents and Links