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Worker Safety - Supporting Staff in the Delivery of Services

To be effective, workers must have a safe and suitable workspace. This includes ready access to cell phones and reliable and safe transportation; comfortable, safe offices with adequate meeting space; and the option of teaming on difficult or potentially violent cases. The following resources describe worker safety challenges and offer guidelines for promoting worker safety, including State and local examples.

Being Prepared for Ongoing CPS Safety Management
Action for Child Protection (2005)
Discusses the essential understanding an ongoing child proctective services (CPS) worker must possess when assigned a case involving safety issues. It provides a summary of safety intervention tasks within the CPS process and a list of social worker safety intervention responsibilities.

Child Welfare Workforce
National Association of Social Workers
Provides information about child welfare workers. It includes facts about turnover, caseload and workload, safety and risk of violence, salaries, qualifications, and the education and training of the child welfare workforce.

Meth and Family-Centered Child Welfare Practice
North Carolina Division of Social Services and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work Family and Children's Resource Program
Children's Services Practice Notes, 10(2), 2005
Reviews risk factors for child maltreatment and suggests techniques for helping families. Emphasis is placed on worker safety, family strengths and involvement in services, comprehensive assessment of parenting skills, cooperation with law enforcement agencies, addiction treatment, and permanency planning. (PDF - 287 KB)

Removing the Risk From Child Welfare Services: A Practical Guide to Risk Management
Jackson (2002)
View Abstract
Examines ways for child care agencies and their representatives to avoid the unnecessary costs of accidental loss, including costs resulting from lawsuits.

Safety First: Dealing With the Daily Challenges of Child Welfare (PDF - 381 KB)
Anne E. Casey Foundation (2002)
Discusses tools, skills, issues, and dilemmas related to ensuring the safety of children and families in the child welfare system. It also discusses how social workers can keep themselves clear, calm, and supported during their work.

Safety Precautions in Methamphetamine Lab Sites for Child Protection Workers (PDF - 106 KB)
Minnesota Department of Human Services (2005)
Reviews the dangers of methamphetamine lab sites to child welfare workers and lists possible symptoms related to short-term chemical exposure. Worker safety precautions are discussed.

Social Work Safety
National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
Provides a collection of resources focused on worker safety, including NASW standards for safety.

Social Worker Personal Safety
Simmons College School of Social Work
Provides simple steps for social workers to take to help plan for their safety when working with survivors of domestic violence and their batterers.

Work-Related Trauma Effects in Child Protection Social Workers
Horwitz
Journal of Social Service Research, 32(3), 2006
View Abstract
Examined whether negative workplace events were associated with workplace trauma effects amongst child welfare workers, and considered whether job support or job satisfaction moderated the influence of events on effects.

Working With Potentially Violent Clients in Their Homes: What Child Welfare Professionals Need to Know
University of Maryland Baltimore School of Social Work
Clinical Supervisor, 21, 2002
View Abstract
Outlines practical strategies for reducing risks and maintaining personal safety while carrying out child welfare responsibilities.

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State and local examples

Domestic Violence Initiative for Child Protective Services
Massachusetts Department of Social Services (2003)
View Abstract
Serves as a guide for child protective service workers in Massachusetts and outlines a protocol for responding to situations involving domestic violence. Guiding principles for investigation, safety assessment, child interviews, assessment of offender liability, service planning, and documentation are described.

Domestic Violence Protocol for Child Protective Services Intervention
Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, North Carolina (2003)
View Abstract
Provides guidelines for child protective service practice with families that are experiencing domestic violence as well as child maltreatment. The protocol also addresses considerations for interviewing mothers, children, and batterers and for ensuring worker safety.

Personal Safety for Visiting Professionals (PDF - 153 KB)
Minneapolis Police Department (2007)
Includes safety guidelines for professionals who conduct home visits.

Standards and Values for Public Child Welfare Practice in California Worker Safety
California Social Work Education Center
Provides links to materials used in the worker safety content area of the CalSWEC curriculum. The session addresses three aspects of safety: self-awareness, environmental awareness in the office and in the field, and client awareness.

Workplace Violence: Perceptions and Experiences of Local Public Assistance and Child Support Enforcement Staff and Managers (PDF - 735 KB)
Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2000)
Summarizes information the Department gathered about workplace violence from local welfare and child support enforcement staff. Staff from 99 local child support and 103 local public assistance offices in California, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia provided information.

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Updated on February 24, 2010